Thank you, Pastor Brad, and good morning.
And I want to say thank you for
your prayers for Roberta and I as we've
been away for a couple of weeks.
We're a little bit congested, so forgive me
if the voice comes and goes a little
bit.
In Niger, I think I shared 23 messages
in 14 days, so it was a busy
time.
And we're so grateful for your prayers because,
as you know, there was a coup in
a military coup in Niger while we were
there.
And no, I did not start it, and
neither did Roberta.
But we were there, of course, while it
happened.
The first week we were in Niamey, which
is the capital city of Niger, and it's
probably one of the poorest nations in Africa.
The second week we were in Maradi, as
we would say it in English, or Maradi
as they say it in Hausa, and each
week had a translation.
And the first week in Niamey was in
French, and the second week was in Hausa.
So it was an interesting time, and if
I pause between sentences, I'm still waiting for
somebody to translate as we go along.
The second week is when the coup happened,
and of course everybody was quite concerned about
that.
I was teaching in a Bible school at
the time when the telephones started to go
bleep-bleep, and everybody was getting a message
to say there's gunfire in the capital.
And then SIM, the mission that we were
working with, sent a text to the man
I was with and said, it's time to
get everybody into the compound, the missions compound.
And so we finished up and drove back
to Maradi.
And for a few days, Roberta and I
got to be maw and paw to some
missionaries who were a little anxious, perhaps we
could say.
But we were never in any danger, and
we were grateful for your prayers all the
way through.
And God has been very, very good to
us.
Last Sunday morning, as I spoke in a
church, the temperature was 42 degrees, and so
there's a slight temperature change this week.
It was 47 in the evening, but 42
in the morning.
So you'll be glad to know it did
cool off at night time, went all the
way down to 29 some nights.
I know, I know, I understand.
In the College of Prayer, we were privileged
to speak to about 200 pastors and leaders
in each city and had a wonderful sense
of the presence of God in the meetings
as he spoke into hearts and into lives.
And in both cities, I had the privilege
of speaking to the youth in one event
each time, and I was able to share
some of my testimony as a youth coming
to Christ from a violent background.
And you know, sometimes we just need to
know that regardless of whether it's Regina, Saskatchewan,
or Maradi in the middle of the sub
-Sahara desert, God still saves.
His gospel is still powerful enough to change
lives.
And when you look at the difference economically
and culturally and all the rest, yet the
one thing that really communicates is still the
gospel of Christ.
And so we had two good weeks.
We were grateful for your prayers on the
journey home.
There's a little sense of tension going through
the airport in the army.
The military presence was a little stronger than
when we came in, but we didn't see
a lot of military on the streets or
anything.
And we flew out of Paris 30 minutes
before a strike came to the airport, so
thank you for praying.
Whoever was praying on Wednesday in the middle
of the day, that's kind of, we appreciate
that.
It got us back to Montreal, and so
onward back to Regina.
At some point, I think I can talk
Mrs. McGregor into giving us a report, so
I'm not going to talk a lot about
what happened.
But we know you prayed, and God chose
to save some people, and he chose to
encourage the leaders of his church in that
Islamic Republic.
And it's marvelous to see God's people pray
together and to watch what he's doing.
Well, the pastor ought to preach a message
on Sunday morning, and so let me endeavor
to do that.
I'm reading this morning from Matthew chapter 28,
and I'll just read verse 18, 19, and
20, and we'll move around a little bit
in Scripture this morning.
But Matthew 28 and verse 18 says, Then
Jesus came to them and said, All authority
in heaven and on earth has been given
to me.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I
have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always to
the very end of the age.
Let's pray for a moment and just from
our hearts ask the Lord to speak to
us and encourage us this morning as we
gather as his people.
Father, we're so grateful for the gift of
prayer you allow us to come to your
very throne and to speak to you.
And as we come this morning, we ask
Lord that you would encourage our hearts, that
you would speak to us from your word
and strengthen our lives through it.
Father, as we have come to worship you,
we also come to receive a word from
you that can help us to walk before
you in all the difficulties of life and
the challenges that we face in the good
times and the tougher times as well.
And so, Father, may your word be precious
to us this morning.
May your Holy Spirit indeed breathe life into
every one of our hearts that we might
know you and follow you.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Some people call this the Great Commission and
coming out of a missions trip it might
be a logical place for me to read,
but I want to just start here to
say, you know, Jesus said, go and make
disciples.
And I thought for a few moments this
morning we might just think about disciples.
When he's saying here, go and make disciples,
a natural question comes to our minds, doesn't
it?
Well, what is a disciple?
How do you get to be a disciple?
What is it that Jesus is saying?
Go and make disciples.
And let's take a look at a man
who becomes a disciple and how that happens,
and then we'll look at some of the
marks of discipleship.
And we'll go first of all then to
Luke chapter 19 for a few minutes, and
here is a story of a man that
I dearly love, and I'll tell you why
in a moment or two.
I'm just gonna read the first ten verses
of Luke 19, and here is how someone
became a disciple of Jesus.
It says, Jesus entered Jericho and was passing
through.
A man was there by the name of
Zacchaeus.
He was a chief tax collector and was
wealthy.
He wanted to see who Jesus was, but
being a short man, he could not because
of the crowd.
So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore
fig tree to see him, since Jesus was
coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up
and said to him, Zacchaeus, come down immediately.
I must stay at your house today.
So he came down at once and welcomed
him gladly.
All the people saw this and began to
mutter.
He's gone to be the guest of a
sinner.
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the
Lord, look Lord, here and now I give
half of my possessions to the poor, and
if I've cheated anybody out of anything, I'll
pay back four times the amount.
Jesus said to him, today salvation has come
to this house, because this man too is
a son of Abraham.
For the Son of Man came to seek
and to save what was lost.
Now did you catch on why I love
the character of Zacchaeus?
Brad did, he said he's short.
So did Donna, that's right.
Well I've been short all my life, and
there's been sort of a widening over the
years, but the shortness hasn't changed.
And I want you to know after two
weeks of Daniel fast, I've lost five pounds,
so praise God.
May it continue.
Here's a man who became a disciple.
How did it happen?
Well you know I really can't identify with
him, because couldn't see over the crowd.
And that's something I fought with most of
my life too, and once in a while
you get prime position where you can see
over or they put you in the nosebleed
section or something and you can see across.
But Zacchaeus, he wanted to see Jesus.
And you know when you come to church
on Sunday morning, whether you're already a disciple
or somebody who wonders about what a disciple
looks like, isn't that really why we're here?
To see Jesus.
That was the desire of this man's heart,
he wanted to see the Savior.
He was a wealthy man, he was a
tax chief, tax collector, not a very popular
guy, but quite wealthy.
And because he couldn't see, he hoist himself
into a tree.
I got a great imagination and I love
thinking about Zacchaeus in the tree.
As he sits there in the tree thinking,
nobody can see me.
I'm gonna get to see Jesus and nobody
will see me.
I don't have to fight with the crowd,
I don't even have to pay for the
seat.
And when the collection plate is passed, it's
gonna happen at grind level.
You got it?
There he is.
But isn't it interesting when Jesus walks that
day and he comes under that tree, he
just stops and he looks right up through
the leaves into the face of a man,
hidden up there, who thought, I'll catch a
glimpse of Jesus and nobody will ever know.
And as the Lord looked up at him,
I'm quite sure that Zacchaeus must have thought,
he sees me.
That's kind of a uh-oh moment, he
sees me.
And you know Jesus sees you this morning,
he knows the burden in your heart, he
knows the desire in your heart, he knows
the things that you carry, the things that
you wrestle with.
And just as he looked up at that
little man in that tree, he looks today
in all of our hearts as we gather
before him.
Zacchaeus must have said, he sees me.
What should I do now?
I'm not hidden anymore.
He sees me.
You see, it's a nice thing when we're
anonymous.
But the Lord Jesus never leaves us anonymous.
He always just gets right there in our
face and he's unavoidable.
I used to tell a guy when he
would talk to me about Jesus, shut up,
leave me alone.
And he never would do it and I
couldn't understand why he couldn't get the hint.
But the reason he wouldn't stop is because
Jesus is unavoidable.
And as he's looking there, Zacchaeus is saying,
he sees me.
Hmm, well, plan A didn't work.
I thought I'd be anonymous, but there's something
in that man's eyes, he's looking right through
me.
And then Jesus says, Zacchaeus, you read anywhere
in this that there was an introduction that
took place?
Is there anywhere in the previous chapters that
it says Jesus bumped into Zacchaeus and was
given his name?
Not there.
So what is he thinking now in his
tree?
He sees me, he knows me, he knows
my name.
See, Jesus is so unavoidable.
He knew Zacchaeus, he knows you and me,
he speaks to him by name.
And then I kind of like this picture
as we look at it, you know, he
sees me, he knows me.
But Jesus didn't just say Zacchaeus, he said,
come down immediately.
So I'm going to your place.
Now, ladies, what would be the first thing
you'd think if Jesus came and said, can
you just come with me because I'm going
to your place right now?
Did we make the bed?
Vacuum the floor?
There's all those kind of things that kind
of come upon us, don't they?
And he's saying, hey, you come down right
now because I'm going to your place.
So now Zacchaeus must have been thinking to
himself, not only does he see me and
he knows me, but he wants me.
I don't think Zacchaeus was concerned about the
condition of the house.
I think he was absolutely surprised that the
Son of God stood there under that tree
and said, you, yes, you.
I know all about you.
I know all the stuff that you do.
I know all the things, the fraud that
you work.
I know everything about you.
Come, come here.
Come down.
I want you.
What a great picture this is as you
start to think about it, as he is
invited to be a disciple of Jesus.
And then there's something else here.
It says, he came down at once and
welcomed him gladly.
Zacchaeus also said, Lord, I know that you
can see me.
I know that you know my name.
I know that you want me.
But Jesus, you can have me.
I'm not going to stay in the tree.
I'm coming down.
You know, all the pride of that old
tax collector, all the hardness that must have
been in his life, all the stuff, just
fall away as he gets out of that
tree.
And he's coming there to the Son of
God.
And it says, he welcomed him.
That's how you become a disciple.
You know, people think they hide things.
Nobody will ever know.
But the all-seeing eye of a holy
God knows everything.
There's nothing hidden to him.
It's pointless to try to hide things from
Jesus.
He knows all about it.
And he knows us by name, individually.
You say, how can that be?
There's billions of people in the world.
Well, there's even more than billions of stars.
And it says in the Bible that he
knows every one of them and he calls
them by name.
So if he can call the stars by
name, why would it not be that he
knows your name and mine also?
Despite knowing all of that stuff, Jesus says,
come on.
And I know Zacchaeus is a disciple from
this moment on because you see what happens
when he says, yes, you can have me.
Immediately, he says something else.
I'm going to give away half of what
I have.
Where did the greed go?
Where's the little nasty tax collector?
He is changed.
And the things that I have defrauded, I'll
pay it back four times.
Wow, that's better interest than you can get
in the bank these days.
Something severe happened when this man became a
disciple of Jesus.
Jesus said, go and make disciples because disciples
are different.
They are people who have had an encounter
with Jesus that has changed their life.
It has never been about the things that
they started to do, good things to please
God.
It has always been about the work that
God did in the heart that changed the
individual completely and totally so that they walk
in following Jesus.
So what else does the Bible say to
us about disciples?
Because what does a disciple look like?
Henry Blackaby always gets under my skin.
You know, when I spend a few days
with him in conferences and stuff, he asks
them questions that get in there and itch
at you and you start to think about
things and you start to say, God, what
is it that you're saying to me?
And one day in South Africa, three years
ago, Blackaby said to me, what did Jesus
tell us to do?
I'm smart.
I know the answer to that.
I read it for you at the beginning
of the service.
Go and make disciples of all nations.
And he looked at me, said, anything else?
I said, oh yeah, yeah.
It says, baptize them in the name of
the Father, Son, and Spirit and teach them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you.
Anything else?
And yes, I am with you always.
And he said, so if Jesus told us
to command them or teach them the things
that he commanded, John, what are the things
that he commanded?
I looked at him and said, Henry, do
you have to ask these questions?
Can we not just have coffee?
I won't tell Marilyn that you're eating a
donut and you're diabetic and you shouldn't be
doing it.
Let me off the hook here.
No, he'd got in there and start to
itch.
So what does a disciple look like?
Let's go to John chapter eight.
And let me just read verses 31 and
32.
Here's what Jesus says to the Jews who
had believed him.
Jesus said, if you hold to my teaching,
you are really my disciples.
Then you will know the truth and the
truth will set you free.
He's saying a disciple is one that continues
in his teaching, in his word.
One who is not satisfied just to sort
of amble along, but who wants to go
deeper and has a passion for the things
that Jesus taught and the word that God
has given to us.
His word, you know, is such a marvelous
thing.
Years ago in a crusade in Calgary, Alberta,
a young man from Wycliffe, he was translating
the scriptures into other languages.
And I remember him saying to me one
day, last Sunday, he said, you challenged us
to go out and talk to somebody for
Jesus this week.
And I said, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm a Bible translator.
I don't need to do that stuff.
But he said, would you believe four days
out of the five working days, God put
the same guy right in front of me
in the park where I go to eat
my lunch and have peace and quiet, and
I couldn't get away from him.
So he said, on Thursday, I actually talked
to somebody about Jesus.
And then he said, you know what?
This thing's not academic anymore.
It's not just what I know in my
head about the Bible.
It's that the word of God is so
living and active.
As I started to talk to this man,
he was fascinated with Bible translation, and I
actually got to lead him to Christ.
Let me take a moment and read something
about the word of God.
This is from Steve Schmidt.
He's from Swift Current, but he's the director
of SIM in Niger.
And he wrote a nice little letter for
me before I left.
But this is what he says.
I was also very pleased to see the
response of the Nigerian people to your simple
presentation of the scriptures.
It was the word of God that was
touching hearts.
This is the kind of response that's not
based on techniques, on personal charisma, but I
believe it is the response that happens when
the Holy Spirit is moving.
And I won't read anything more from the
letter, but you see, there is that sense
of the power of the word of God.
Now, people sometimes come to me and say,
I got a problem.
I say, okay, what is it?
Well, we're struggling a little bit at home.
And I don't know any easy way to
say this, so I'm just going to say
it out flat.
Our problems in life will diminish in accordance
with the mind of the word of God
that we let in, because it cleanses us,
it lifts us, it equips us, it teaches
us, and the list goes on and on.
And it is the same in marriage, and
it is the same in every part of
life.
A disciple, Jesus said, is one who holds
to my teaching.
So as we think about a disciple, there's
a good question to ask.
Am I excited about the scriptures?
Am I bursting to get into the word
of God?
I did my little jump the other day
at Maradi, and you should have seen those
house of people, you know, as they think
the guy's 150 years old, never seen anybody
with this much white hair, you know.
So I was trying to explain it, and
I said, you know, let me tell you
how much I love Jesus.
And they're waiting for some great exposition, and
you know exactly how it goes.
It just kind of springs out of an
Irish heart.
Yes!
I thought we were going to have real
revival.
What is it?
Is it because I have a good education?
No.
Is it because I've been in the ministry
40 years?
No.
Years ago, I asked the Lord, would you
give me a love for this book, a
love for this word, a passion for it?
That's what changes lives and hearts and homes.
And sometimes people will say, John, you're an
evangelist.
Must be great to win people to Jesus.
I've never won one soul to Jesus.
All an evangelist can do is say, look,
that's Jesus.
You go to him.
He will save you.
This thing of discipleship, boy, I'm preaching on
African time this morning.
I'm sorry.
That's point one, and there's seven points.
Okay, we're not going to do them all.
Relax.
Praise the Lord.
I like this man.
Let's go to John 13 verses 34 and
35.
See, something else that Jesus says is one
of the marks of a disciple or the
traits of discipleship.
What does a disciple look like?
He says in John 13, 34 and 35,
a new command I give you, love one
another as I have loved you.
So you must love one another.
By this will all men know that you
are my disciples.
If you have love one for the other.
That's one of the marks of discipleship.
Jesus said, you know, people will know you're
a disciple because the love of God lives
in you and the presence of the living
Lord flows out of you.
You know, I learned to say two words
in Hausa, Nagodi, thank you.
So my communication skills to those dear brothers
and sisters in Maradi was pretty small, but
I learned something that works across all the
cultures.
The love of God flows from heart to
heart.
And I watched a great big Fulani tribesman
with the headdress that comes, you know, like
this, seven feet tall, I'm sure.
Well, anybody looks that size to me, but
he was tall.
And when he came to the college of
prayer, he could hardly walk and he's all
bandaged up in his right leg.
And he asked me after one of the
sessions with an interpreter, would you pray for
my leg?
They let me out of the hospital to
come to this.
And I asked the national leaders of the
college of prayer there, let's just pray for
him.
And with great difficulty, he got on his
knees and took his headdress off, which is
so amazing in that culture.
And as those men gathered around and put
their hands on him and prayed for him
within two hours, they were asking in the
service for a testimony.
And here's this man saying, I can stand
praise God.
He has touched me.
You ever see a guy who's seven feet,
give a fellow who's five foot five and
a half a hug.
What was it?
It's just the love of God.
And I think so often that the thing
that people are looking for is they want
to know, is this real?
Is this just talk about love or is
this real love?
And I don't think I'll ever forget that
big guy because he came to see me
before we left.
And just a sense of love that is
flowing from his heart.
It melted me.
And I'm saying to, I don't think this
will translate into Hausa, but I'm going to
see you here, there or in the air
and we'll be with Jesus forever.
This thing of love you see is so
vital.
What is it that Jesus uses to build
his church?
Is it all the preaching and all the
doctrine and all?
No, I don't think so.
I think it's the love of God flowing
through the people of God that looks in
to a heart that needs a touch from
God and says, listen, I want to walk
with you for a while in the love
of God.
In 14 years in the Billy Graham team,
one statement was consistently made.
This is it.
People in every city that I ever worked
in looked at that team and said, look
at how they love each other.
And it was modeled by the three key
players, Billy Graham, George Beverly Shea, and Cliff
Barrows.
Never in 14 years did I hear those
men have an angry word.
Why not?
Because they loved each other as they loved
Christ.
And that's what he's talking about.
This sacrificial love.
It puts us out of our comfort zone.
How can I love somebody when they hurt
me?
How can I love somebody when they offend
me?
How can I love somebody when they betray
me?
How can I love somebody when all those
kinds of things go on?
I want to tell you this.
In the fullness of the spirit of God,
you can love them.
And they won't see you.
They'll see him.
You know, I don't think we need to
do five more points because I think the
presence of God is right here in this
moment.
We're disciples if we know Jesus.
But sometimes we want to be disciples on
our terms.
And he's the one who says, can't do
it.
We can only be disciples on his terms.
Oh, let's change position and stand for a
minute as we pray together.
You've been so kind, and you've been listening
to me for many minutes.
Jesus said, go and make disciples.
Can I just ask you, are you a
disciple?
Is Jesus your Savior?
Zacchaeus wondered about Jesus, and that day, from
the moment that Jesus looked at him, he
is drawn to the Savior and becomes a
disciple.
And if you're here this morning, or this
afternoon as it is now, and you say,
I've always wanted to be a disciple.
I'm not sure there's ever been that moment,
that moment of choice when I said, Jesus,
you can have me.
I give myself to you.
So this morning, I'm going to pray just
a short prayer.
And if you want to become a disciple,
you can make this prayer your own, just
by from your heart speaking to the Lord
and saying to him, God, I recognize you're
calling me to be a disciple.
And Lord, like Zacchaeus, I know I'm a
sinner.
But Lord, like Zacchaeus, I'm saying, Jesus, you
can have me, take all of me, cleanse
my heart and life, give me your life,
and your forgiveness, and your truth.
And if you prayed that, and you mean
it in your heart, Jesus means exactly what
he said.
He came to seek you and save you
today.
I want to encourage you to speak to
myself, or one of the staff, or one
of the elders afterwards.
We have some help to give you.
But for many of us this morning, we're
on the road of discipleship, and we need
to say something to the Lord.
Jesus is teaching us that disciples hold his
word.
His word is precious and powerful to them.
And maybe you need to make a recommitment
this morning to time and scripture.
And Jesus said people will know his disciples
because they love each other, even as they
love him.
And maybe this morning you need a battery
of love filled up in your heart.
Things have been disappointing, hurtful, many struggles.
But the Lord, by his Holy Spirit, can
cause you to love again, and to walk
again in his truth.
So Heavenly Father, we want to pray this
morning.
Give us as your people, from the staff
and all through this church, give us a
passion for your word.
Lord, make us strong in it.
Wash us through it.
Fill us with it.
And Lord, fill us with the love of
God and a love for one another, so
that people can look and see they must
really be disciples of Jesus, because look at
how they love each other.
They're doing exactly what Jesus said.
Father, we ask in humility and submission, make
it so in our hearts this day.
We love you, Lord.
And we want to be known as a
people full of the love of God.
In Jesus' strong name we pray.
Amen.
Thanks for listening, and you may be seated.
And I think maybe the team has a
closing song.