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ONE | A Potter's House Church
ACT 1: Follow The Leader (Surrender) - Ebenezer Quaye (Wednesday Bible Study)
01:34:15
To follow Jesus is to take on His character—not as a performance, but as a way of life. In Act 1: Follow the Leader, we talk about the kind of discipleship that transforms you from the inside out—where every scene of your life reflects the One...
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Hey, good people, this is Torre Roberts. Blessings to you and welcome to the ONE Podcast. I'm excited that you're here. ONE is a community of dynamic and vibrant thought leaders, preachers, teachers, and just a community of wonderful people all together. And we're excited to bring you this weekly podcast from our services from ONE in la. If you haven't been to one, I encourage you to check it out. You can go to one the Word one O N E online and find out all about the service times and all about the teachers and all the philanthropic things that we have going. I believe you're going to be blessed to be a part of it. And speaking of being blessed, we're getting ready to get into a teaching right now that I believe is going to bless you. So tune in, enjoy, and I'll be back with you at the end.
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Let me say this very quickly. There are going to be parts of this evening, really parts of these next few weeks that are going to be interactive. I wrestled with whether I wanted to do that or not, and God wouldn't let me be safe about it. So guess what? We will be interacting with each other. So please make sure, if you are not, make sure you are sitting next to someone. I say that only because for these next six weeks, we're all going to be on this journey together. And I don't want anyone to get too comfortable sitting by themselves. Because one of the things we know of the disciples is bare minimum, Jesus sent them out two at a time. So I don't want anyone as we are going through this journey together, getting comfortable. So if you're not sitting near or next to someone, I see there's a lot of seats. Please make your own. Make sure that you are sitting next to or near someone. You're going to need your neighbor during these next six weeks. I'm excited to get this going. As you saw earlier. Well, let me say this. Welcome to act one. We're gonna spend the next six weeks discovering how to build the character of a disciple. Because it's one thing to know the text. It's one thing to read the text and to study the text. It becomes a whole other thing when you put the text down and have to do the work on the inside. And this thing that God laid on me was that his people that we need to become comfortable with doing the work on the inside. And there are tools, there are things that are available that allow us to do this work so that we can ultimately be all who God has called for us to be. And so that we can not just be called disciples, but be known as disciples. Because it's one thing for someone to call you a disciple, because that is what you call yourself. It's another thing for people to see the way that you do life, to see the way that you encounter each other. And for someone to say that is a disciple of Jesus. But that starts when we not only read, but also when we take it off of the page, our overarching scripture for the next six weeks. 6. CG just mentioned it. Acts 13 and 52. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. This is the part where I sit down. I was hype. I was about to just get up and do this. And I almost violated one of my rules as an actor. If you have a prop, use it. You never want to be given a tool and have it laid dormant. I've already started. See, I'm pulling it out of me already. When you look up this word joy, this word joy speaks of cheerfulness. And as you continue to study it, it's a calm delight. So when we talk about how the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit, imagine the inner strength it takes to. To be filled with the Holy Spirit and have a calm delight. As we go through this journey, one of the things that I want us to be mindful of is always paying attention to our inner state, what's happening on the inside of us. Number one, remembering that we always have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. And number two, as disciples, how to walk with a calm cheerfulness, a calm joy. And I think what allows us to do that is having the experience day in, day out, week in week out of developing ourselves, monitoring and developing our character as disciples. I keep throwing out this word disciple. Let's define the word disciple. The word disciple. I'm praying I pronounced this correctly. It's a Greek word. Matthias. I know I didn't, but that's all right. You knew what I meant. And it means a learner pupil. So a disciple is a student. When you break that word down further, it not only means to learn, but it means to understand. It's one thing to collect the information. It's one thing to know who Jesus is and know how he walked this earth. How we demonstrate understanding is in how we show what we have learned. In other words, in how we live what we have learned. This is what shows we have a true understanding of what it is to follow Jesus. It's not just knowing Scripture and remembering scripture and being able to spit scripture, but it's to live scripture. So when we talk about being a disciple, this means calling ourselves disciples means we have dedicated our lives. We have designated ourselves to be lifelong students of Jesus. This is very important. This is a lifelong thing. We do this every day, all day. We never come to a place where we have arrived. I know so much about Jesus, I need to stop learning. That's not a disciple. A disciple is one with the understanding. And as you study the disciples in the Word, they were consistently asking Jesus questions because they simply did not know. And they were never afraid to ask questions. There was no such thing as a dumb question. They would ask Jesus as Jesus was doing things. I loved this about the disciples. Jesus would be performing a miracle or teaching a particular parable. And they would stand there, they wouldn't say anything. Then they would go off in private. Jesus, what was that? What did you just do? Can you explain that parable? Because, I mean, they nodded their heads. But then when it was time to withdraw Jesus, that parable, we didn't get it. As a disciple, what it is to walk out. Being a disciple is there's no such thing as dumb questions. Which means in order for me to be comfortable enough to know that this means I am dedicating myself to being a lifelong student. I am a pupil, I am learning, and my teacher is Jesus. This is very important because we will have a lot of world knowledge. There are a lot of people to learn from. There's a lot of great advice out there. There's a lot of motivational speakers. This, that, and the third. That's wonderful. You, your teacher as a disciple is Jesus, not Jesus and not Jesus. Mixed with as a disciple, as a follower, as a Christian. As a Christian, as a follower of the way of Jesus. My teacher is Jesus. So we're going to declare this right now. On the count of three, I want each person to everybody to say together, I am a disciple. I love that. Some of y' all were waiting for me to count the three. I felt it. That was great. Listen, shout out to y' all who were ready. I'm gonna just declare this thing right now. We ain't got time to wait. And the other people. I heard the instruction, and the instructor told me to wait till. So we're gonna do it again, but we're all gonna do it together as a house. On the count of three. And I'm really gonna count to three this time. One, two, three. I am discipled. Hallelujah. I'm glad we all agree. Here's the first thing I would like to do. I mentioned, actually, I spoke to CG earlier, that I was going to borrow her for an exercise. Come on up, please. Let's give my sister CG a shout for being a willing participant. See, she has no idea what's about to happen. All right, now, here's what I would like to do. The first exercise as tonight is called Follow the Leader. This is an exercise called Follow the Leader. It's a very simple, simple exercise. Here is what I'm going to ask you to do, and I'm actually going to participate in this. Let's be very clear. I don't just preach. I practice what I preach. I can't have y' all doing exercises without me being willing to do it, too. So here's what I'm going to have you do. I'm going to close my eyes. All right? And I want you to turn, and I want you to decide in your mind where you're going to take me on this stage. Don't care where it is. You don't need to tell me. I'm gonna close my eyes, and you are gonna take me there. Yes. You're gonna hold my hand. That's deep, right? No, no, we're not doing that. This is not an X Men Professor X deal. That's not that. So I'm gonna close my eyes. Do you know where you're going to take me? All right, I want you to take me there. Okay. I have. Literally, I'm so disoriented right now because I know this platform, but I've never walked it with my eyes closed. Okay, this is wild. This is. This is what's happening. I'm sitting down, so I'm going to sit down. Okay. Okay. Not yet. All right. Okay. A little bit more. Okay. Okay. And now I'm sitting down. Okay. All right. Whoa. I'm going to open my eyes. Thank you. Can everybody give cg she happened to sit me here. This means I'm going to play Beethoven's. That's not at all what's gonna happen. Wait, you're not done. Cg, hold on. Come on back. Come on back. And we're gonna discuss what happened. Part of the reason I wanted you to hear what I was saying was. Cause number one, I did not know that was gonna feel the way that it did in my head. I was like, all right, I kind of know what the stage is gonna be. I think this would be cool. But I want you to remember any part of the inner monologue that you heard me purposely saying aloud I didn't know that was going to happen. So here's what I need you to do. You're going to close your eyes, and now I'm going to decide on a place, and I'm going to take you there. All right? Got you. Ready? Okay. All right, gonna. Then we're gonna come this way. Come towards me. Come towards me. Now spin this way. All right, back up. Go to your right. To your right. That's my right. No, no, your left, your left. Keep going, keep going. All right, now lower yourself slowly. Okay, Slow. I got you. Okay, now open your eyes. Okay. You made it. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. That was awesome. It was a little scary. Oh, this is great. Do we have another? Could I have a microphone? Is there one available? Because I gotta keep you on the spot.
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Come on up. Come on. Come on. She waiting to sit. I keep pulling her back up just like Jesus. Jesus. Waiting to be comfortable. Jesus. Like, get up. Move. So here's what I want to ask. As you were being led around, what were you thinking? I didn't want to fall. Did everybody hear that? Hello? Hello? It's not on. I don't think. Hold on, let me. Oh, there. Hello. Hello. I think I. I'll repeat what she said. She said she was afraid. She said you didn't want to fall. I didn't want to fall. She didn't want to fall. Yeah. That's all she was thinking as she was being led around. Okay. As she was going through, she had never been where she was going. And she was walking with her eyes closed, and she was making sure she was safe. She did not want to fall. Right. As I was being led around, I thought much the same thing. I was. I just. I don't want to trip. Right. I don't want to hurt myself. Okay. But I don't want to fall. Now, as you were being led around, was there a point where you felt comfortable? Yes. Okay. When did you feel comfortable? After the first spin. I made it. I was like, okay, I'm not going to fall. After the first spin. After the first spin. Okay. And that's when you felt comfortable? Yeah. I felt like if I made it through that spin, I guess I'm on solid ground. She done preached the whole word right there. So for me, as I was being led, there were two. The most comfortable part was after about the fifth or sixth step because I just didn't know where I was going. And I got used to not knowing where I was going. Wow. And at that point, I became comfortable because I had Taken five or six steps. I hadn't tripped, I hadn't fallen. I still had all my teeth. I think we're in a good place. And so at this point, it didn't really matter where she was taking me, because after four or five steps, I was safe enough in not knowing where I was going and how shortly she led me. Let me also be clear about this. How she led was important because she held my hand and it wasn't just the way she held my hand. She held my hand as she was moving and was giving me verbal instruction as well. So not only do I know that she has got me, but I also hear what she's saying. So she has me, she's speaking to me. And then she got me wherever it was that I'd never been before. But I got there safely. This is what it is to be a follower. This is what it's like to follow Jesus and my inner monologue. As you heard me saying, well, I don't know what's going on. I don't know where I'm going. I hope this goes right. I don't. I didn't know because I couldn't see. See, if we're going to really do this thing as disciples, when we say we walk by faith and not by sight, we got to mean it. But what allows us to mean it is firm direction. And I didn't tell her how to lead me. She just knew because my eyes were closed and I didn't know where I was going. She made up her mind towards where we were going and she led me there. Jesus already knows where you're going. That's so good. That's why I can trust in him as he leads me through this thing called life. He already knows where I'm going. His Father, who he follows, saw the end in the beginning. If I'm going to call myself a disciple, a student, a learner, one of the things I will always have to learn is how do I continue to follow him as he leads me through places I. I've never been before. You can sit down. Thank you so much. I just had her up here. Two other things I wanted to put together for you as well. Now I mentioned her. All I told her was, I'm gonna pull you up here. I didn't tell her what I was going to do. You ever had God just do you like that? I'm not gonna tell you why I'm sending you to la. I'm just gonna send you there. And in your mind, while you're on the Plane or the bus, or while you're driving, you're coming up with all of the different reasons you could possibly wind up in la. Meanwhile, God knows the whole time exactly why he's taking you, where you're going. And there are going to be times in your journey when all you have is his hand. You know you're a disciple when you hold on to his hand and you ignore the temptation to open your eyes. I wanted to open my eyes and take a look, but I didn't know where we were going. So if I open my eyes and I don't even know where we're going, what I'm seeing is not going to make sense to me anyway, because I'm not the one who has the final destination in mind. It's the person who's leading me. So it serves me to walk by faith and not by sight, because my faith is in the One who is leading me. Because the One who is leading me knows where we're going and knows who I am. One of the reasons I can ask CG to do that is because we have history. I trust her. And one of the things we will develop later tonight is what it is to walk with a history with Jesus. Because it's one thing to say I'm going to study him. It's a whole other thing to walk with Him. And what the disciples did as they walked in their years of ministry with him, is they developed a history with Him. What you will also have to do is there are things you're going to have to give up. There's comfort that you have to give up if you're going to be a disciple. There are things you're going to have to leave behind if you're going to be a disciple. Not only say if, because we already declared that you are now that you are disciples. Go ahead and prepare your mind and your heart and your spirit for the things that you will have to give up in order to keep walking with your eyes closed in order to continue to walk by faith. Let's go to Matthew, chapter 4, 1822. This is one of my favorite parts in the Bible. I say that about every part of the Bible says. And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon. Simon called Peter and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. Then he said to them, follow me. Come on, disciples, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. They immediately left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee and John, his brother, in the boat with Zebedee, their father, mending their nets, he called them. And immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him as disciples. I love this imagery because the first thing you see is Jesus saying, follow me. This is who you will become if you follow me. This is who I will craft you into being. And the first thing it says that these two fishermen did was they left their nets. He said, I will make you fishers of men. And they put down that which they used to catch fish for them. Their nets were not only how they made their living. When you think about what it is to be a fisherman, a fisherman without a net, it's very hard, hard to say, this is what I do, this is who I am, when you're not walking with the thing that defines you. So before the journey has even begun, they've already decided, I need to put down the thing that defines me. Because the one who defines me has just called me. Now I gotta move forward. So they put down their nets. They put down the things that allowed them to do what it is that let them to sustain their lives. They put down what brought them increase. They put down what brought them business. They put down what allowed them to live as they were. They put down their professions. They put down a profession to gain an identity. So they put down the nets. And then James and John, of course, James and John be extra. If you study them, they are known as the Sons of Thunder. They always come in on 10, says James and John. They were mending their nets with their father. He called them. They immediately left the boat and their father and followed him. Listen, they didn't just leave the family business. They left the family and the business. They left that which had raised them and grown them and cultivated them and fed them and sustained them. Because Jesus told them that there was a new calling on their lives. As we're talking about building character as a disciple, this is one of the staple defining characteristics of a disciple is the. The willingness to let go of who you have been, who you think you are, what you think you need to do, what you think you need to do. Because when Jesus comes calling, in a different season, in a different time, in a different moment, you have to be able to put down your nets. You have to be able to leave the boat. You have to be able to leave the Father or leave whoever is needed to, to move forward with him. This is how you spot a disciple. Help me, Jesus. You don't just know a disciple by what they have if you listen, you know a disciple by what they left behind. When you are committed to following Jesus, you are committed to leaving behind whatever is necessary to lay hold of what He. He has put in front of you at any given time. So one of the things we have to wrap our hearts and our minds around is this idea that, in effect, I'm always walking with my eyes closed. I'm always walking by faith. Even if I think I know where it is I am and what I'm supposed to be doing, I can change. I can be. My direction can be changed at any given point in time. And I have to be willing to go along with the change in direction, to go along with the change of habits, to go along with the change of personality, to go along with the change of calling, to go along with the change in abilities, to go along with the change of life. I have to be willing to do this in order just to keep up with Jesus. This is what makes us disciples. We continue no matter what he shows us to say. All right, I know you've shown me this, but I need to close my eyes again. Interesting thing also. I noticed about. As I walked around blindly all over this platform, which I thought I knew before I closed my eyes, I noticed that after about a minute or so, I was listening in a way I hadn't listened before. I was trying to pick up a sense of where I was using my other senses. The thing of walking by faith is walking by faith sharpens your other senses. There are times where you rely on a particular sense or a particular way of knowing how you're supposed to do things. And then you have to close that. You have to shut that so that God can lead you in a way. Not only that you've never been led before, but there are other senses. The Holy Spirit will awaken in you so that you know and can hear him in a new way. This is what discipleship is. It is having the courage to say, not only am I going to close my eyes, but I'm going to close my eyes and I'm going to forget what I knew before I closed my eyes. Because the way he's taking me is a new way. And even if it's somewhere I've been before, I'm getting there in a different way. I'm arriving there with a new level of faith that I did not have, have before. This is building the character of a disciple. I'm gonna close my eyes and I'm going to allow him to lead me around wherever he needs to take me. Until he then plants me and says, open your eyes. Now it's time to work. So here's what I would like to do for all of us. Now, earlier I mentioned. I want everybody to sit next to somebody. Everybody. Thank you so much for heeding that. I don't see anybody sitting by themselves. Hallelujah. This is what I'm going to do. I want to get into this exercise. I feel like I've talked quite a bit of scripture. I need to get y' all on your feet. Let's go. All right. What I would like for everybody to do is to face your neighbor. Everybody should have a partner. This is a two person exercise. Everybody face somebody. Okay? Everybody face somebody. Everybody should be facing somebody. Everybody's facing somebody. If you don't got a partner, raise your hand. We're going to get you a partner, okay? Okay. Everybody's facing somebody. Nobody's by themselves. Here's what I want you all to do. We're going to do this in two parts. First thing I would like for you to do, so everybody's facing each other. I want you to decide who's gonna lead first. Okay? You've decided who's gonna lead. That was quick. For some of you. Not that quick. Some of y' all are still deciding. You're flipping a coin. You're praying on it. You're letting the spirit lead you. That's wise. So here's the thing. Raise your hand if you are leading your pair. Raise your hand if you're leading your pair. Cool. Leaders, this is what you're going to do. Okay? I want you to watch me. You are going to look. The two of you are going to look at each other. This is a mirror exercise, and it's very simple. Wait, whoa. Y' all act like you already know what to do. Y' all supposed to close your eyes and walk by faith. So here's what's going to happen. All you're going to do for the next 30 seconds is you as the one who is leading. You're going to look. You two are looking in each other's eyes. Don't get weird, okay? Don't get weird. And for the person or persons who are following, you are going to follow whatever physical movement they do. But here's the thing. You are moving as a mirror. So you are not doing your. What they do, you do. Okay? But remember looking at each other's eyes. Whatever. However they move, you move. Just like that. I couldn't help it. It was just there. It was so there. And y' all were with it, too. Okay, where my leaders at? Y' all ready? You understand your assignment? 30 seconds. Everybody ready? I don't see everybody looking at each other. All right. Matter of fact, let's do it this way. My hand is up. When my hand comes down, Begin. Everybody can see my hand. Sa it. All right. Three, two, one. Okay. Okay. All right. Oh, man. That had no purpose. I just want to see if I get y' all to do it. I was playing. That's not true. I'm kidding. So not true. All right. That was fun. All right, those who will lead, you are now going to follow. All right, my hand is up. Everybody can see my hand when my hand comes down. Let's begin. Some people already started. I see this. Yeah. What are we doing? I have my arms not down yet. We ready? Y' all so giggly. That's all right. All right. Okay. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Okay, okay. Oh, my. This six weeks is gonna be fun. This is a mirror exercise. Some people got their apple health. Watch out. Like, I was like, oh. We popping and locking. Oh, man, y' all are tough. Glad y' all weren't in my acting class. Good Lord. Y'. All. Y' all working it out. So here's what I would like. You guys can have a seat. So everybody had a chance to both lead and follow? Yes. Show of hands. Who found it easier to lead? Easier to lead. Okay. That's a good chunk of the room. Hands high. Hands high. Hands high. Oh, yeah. That's like 85% of the room. All right, hands up. If it was easier to follow. Wait a minute. Hold on. People are raising their hands twice. This is interesting. I'm pretty good at math. Alex. Some of y', all, raise your hand twice. You don't know. If you're not sure, raise your hand. Okay. Okay. We're gonna do it this way. For those of you who found it was easier to lead, I need you to shout one word as to why. Control. I heard that. I heard. I knew everything. I knew everything. Okay, what else? Strategic predictability. Comfort. This is good. Less time to adjust. This is good. This is good. She said, I am the leader. There you go. It's my identity, responsibility, purpose, familiarity. I see a hand all the way there. Excitement. Okay. Innate, you know. What's next? Authority. Okay. All right. I can't wait to collect these. Wait, one more. A reluctant leader. Ooh, Jesus has fun with y'. All. A reluctant leader. For those who were following, can you yell out one word? What made it easier to follow? Trust. Don't have to think. Surrender. He said what? Just natural to follow. So you try to start trouble. Natural to follow and lead. Okay. Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Smiling direction. Simple breathing. So you found it easier to follow because of your. The breathing. Ah. Because you could breathe. It was easy. Got it. The full breath. Okay, got you. Oh, this is great. You didn't have to think. It was freeing. It was easier because you are a visual learner. All right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I like this. Write the vision. Make it plain. I see you. You didn't have to create the next step to focus. It was easier to focus as following. Yes. Letting go. Adaptability. This is great. Last one. Go ahead. You just relied on your partner. You relied on her. I want everyone to. Oh, we got one. That hand was so high, I couldn't really ignore it. It was like way up there. Go ahead. Safety. Here's why I love this exercise so much. Other than the fact that you guys are amazing for doing it. Everybody has a different experience in terms of what it is to lead and to follow. I want you all to remember your answers. Matter of fact, if you can, if you need to pull out your phone very quickly, write it down. I want you to not only remember your answers, but I want you to remember which one was easier for you. Because this is a part of character building. As disciples, we have to have an understanding of who we are and how we are comfortable being led. It. Because how we're comfortable being led gives us a cue. It gives us a clue in how easy or difficult it's going to be to follow Jesus. And not just following Jesus, but following Jesus in some seasons. Because there are seasons where Jesus is going to lead you in a way that's going to make you feel incredibly uncomfortable. He's going to lead you in a way where you don't have that safety. He's going to lead you in a way where you don't have the authority. Because he is the authority. And so there are going to be seasons where Jesus leads us in a way to challenge us in how we're used to being led. What this does is it means that Jesus, after he's done shaking off some of the ways we're used to being led, after he has done that, after he has pruned us of that, this now means he's open to lead us however he sees fit. Oh, everybody stop laughing, man. What happened? The interesting thing is, for some of us, it is easier to lead. For those of us who feel like it is easier to lead, it is going to be very challenging because we're so used to, I think, how you put it was best. We know everything, and depending on the season Jesus is leading us in, we think we know how it's going to end. We think we know how it's going to go. We think we know what steps we need to take. Jesus didn't even finish giving the direction. We already take off because we think we already know. We've mapped it out ourselves, and we take off without Jesus. And one of the things that I love about a disciple, as a follower of Jesus, you never saw them without Jesus. Everywhere they went, they were with Jesus. I found it fascinating. I was looking up the word Christian, and it's barely in the Bible. I believe it's in there twice the word Christian. And I believe that is because as a disciple, built into the fabric and the character and the identity of a disciple is one who literally followed Jesus. When Peter tried to deny Jesus, one of the reasons he kept getting spotted was because they kept saying, hey, you're the guy who is always with Jesus. And no matter how much he tried to say, no, that's not me. They're like, no, we really saw you last week and the week before in another sit. It becomes part of your identity to walk with Jesus. You become inseparable from following in his way. And what allows us to do that is in seasons where we are much more comfortable leading, we have to learn to follow him so that eventually, when following him causes us to step forward and lead others, we then have to become comfortable leading where we were once more comfortable following. Character development means, okay, Jesus, however you move your hand, however you choose to lift or bend or move, whatever you're doing, Jesus, you're my mirror. So I'm not watching what's happening around Jesus. I'm looking to Jesus for what to do next. And I mirror what he does. No matter what it looks like to everybody else. I wish y' all could see each other doing this mirror exercise. Because the one thing that was consistent for everybody, whether you were comfortable leading, whether you were more comfortable following, other than the fact that everybody was laughing, which was beautiful, nobody was looking at anybody else but the person in front of them. Whether leading or following, you are engaged with who is in front of you. And when you put Jesus in front of you as your mirror, it means everything behind you just blurs. It's like life develops its own bokeh. Where my photographer's at, y' all know what that is? That's where everything blurs around the center and the focus of the picture. You're so focused on Jesus, you don't care how crazy you look. You don't care what people say because you're so focused on Jesus. This is a character trait that we all need to not only keep, but build on. And how we build it is in continuing to keep Jesus as our mirror and remember. I want everybody to remember what that felt like in the moment. The first movement, someone did and you're like, am I supposed. Oh, okay, okay, we're doing this. Okay. Oh, no, wait, we're coming back. Oh, okay, all right, we're turning around. Oh, okay, we're waving. We're not waving, we're taking it down. Okay. No, we're. Oh. Everybody was on alert. The body language was so great because at first it kind of started off loose, but then once you saw that first little move go somewhere you didn't expect it to go. I was like, wait, I need to pay attention. Everybody's posture shifted. When you are paying attention to Jesus as a follower of Christ, your senses are heightened because you don't know what Jesus is going to do do. And you don't know how he's going to do it. You don't know how he's going to stretch you. You don't know how he's going to constrict you. You don't know how he's going to lead you. Is he going to lead me in a circle? Is he going to be a fast circle? Is it going to be a slow circle? Is he going to lead me in a straight line? We don't know how he's going to lead us towards inevitably where he's called for us to be. But this is what character building as a disciple is. I, I become known as one who will follow Jesus wherever, to do whatever, however he chooses for us to do it. And so we get used to that awkward, uncomfortable feeling of not knowing what he's about to do. And for those of us who are incredibly comfortable with Jesus leading us into everything, we also then learn at some point in time, Jesus eventually brings you to a place, as he did with the disciples, where once he left, they were now the leaders who, they continued to follow him through the Holy Spirit, but now others were following them too. So this is how you have someone like Peter who goes from slicing off someone's ear to protect Jesus, which is hilarious to me, to protect Jesus, as if Jesus needed security, you have someone who goes from being hot headed and hot blooded and hot tempered to being on fire with The Holy Spirit, which is different. When you become accustomed to having the character of one who will follow Jesus wherever he goes, he births and builds and develops you into something you could not possibly believe you could be. But we have to be willing to be uncomfortable mirroring him, because not every position he puts us in is one we will feel comfortable in. I'm thankful we didn't have too much space because some of us are super flexible and this could have got gymnastics crazy. And for those who are stiff as a board as me, I'm just Jesus, I can't do this. We just got to practice, which is something that as a character building exercise is something to recognize. As I asked if you felt like you were used to, you found it easier to lead. Now you want to take that note. I find it easier to lead than to follow. That says something, because now this means I need to practice following. Because following is that position that you don't feel flexible enough to get into. If you're more comfortable following than leading, you're going to have to practice leading. Because ultimately, when you become a follower of Christ, you are a follower of Christ. You've already declared that you are are followers of Christ, that you are already disciples. Here's the thing about being a disciple and you follow Jesus and the Holy Spirit is at work in you. Please hear me when I say this. Don't let this weird you out when it happens. The Holy Spirit is extremely attractive. So for those of us who are introverts, we like to be by ourselves. Yeah, I heard that. I heard the silent introvert groan. Y' all are good. For those of us who are used to just being by ourselves and are comfortable leading just ourselves, when you start to work with the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is extremely attractive. And, and the reason the Holy Spirit is so attractive is because he is truth. In a time where truth is debatable, the Holy Spirit is not. So as you follow Jesus, as you continue to say, I am going to be a disciple, I am going to be a student of Jesus. Once I become a student student of Jesus, and I continue to follow Jesus, that means I have to receive the gift that he left us, which is the Holy Spirit. And as you walk and develop your character around the Holy Spirit, it is an attractive thing, which means you will find yourself leading when you're not comfortable doing it. So this is why that mirror exercise, never forget it, because ultimately that is what we are doing as followers, as Christians and as disciples. I want to go to Luke 9, 23, 25, then he said to them all, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me if anyone desires. And there's a translation of this which says, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. When we say deny myself, let me have a seat on this one. One of the things that I learned as an actor, when you build a character for a role, one of the golden rules about stepping into a role is, and I want to say this right, you cannot judge the character by that meaning. As you read a script and as you understand the world of that script, what has been presented is truth. To inhabit that character, you are accepting that what I read is the truth. I of that character, which means as an actor, I cannot step into this role that I am to play with my idea of who I am in this position because I have accepted that the role that I am stepping into is the truth. And because I cannot bring my preconceived notion, that means I have to deny who I am in order to inhabit this role that I've been given in this land, in this world that he's being or she is being presented in. So when I hear deny myself, that means I cannot step into this role as a disciple, thinking the way I used to think before I decided to be a disciple. Because unlike acting, where you're taking on a role that is a fictitious character as a disciple, when you step into being a disciple, the discipleship was your true role from birth. So in acting, you're stepping out of the world's reality into another fictional reality. As disciples, you are stepping out of the world's reality, this current world's reality for you, which is not who you are. Who you are is as a disciple and a follower of Christ. That's who you were from the jump, from the giddy up from birth. So now I'm stepping into this role as a disciple, and I cannot bring the way I think a disciple should be into this role. I have to deny myself. I have to deny who I think thought I was. I have to deny what I thought following Christ would look like. I have to close my eyes, and even though I know this ground is sure, my path around is not. So when I read deny myself, and now it speaks of taking up your cross. Understand, Jesus came to this earth to take on the cross. That was his purpose. That was his mission. That was his mandate. That was the reason he was sent to this earth. So taking up your cross is taking up why it Is God put you here and what it is you need to bear as you fulfill what God has called for you to do. The cross is bloody business. The cross was violent business. The cross was incredibly oppositional. We talked about this on Sunday. The cross had all of the trappings of a life. You would not easily opt into knowing you are the truth and having people not listen to you. Knowing you carry the power to heal and knowing sick people would rather be sick than take the healing power from you because they had a bad experience with someone who represented Jesus only by their mouth and not by their life. And in order for me to stay in character, in order for me to still remain a disciple, I have to follow Jesus through it all, just as he did. So I have to take off my cross. I have to deny myself, and I have to remain in character. I have to remain uncomfortable. I have to remain hungry for the next way Jesus is going to direct me. I got to stay in the mirror. I have to block everything else around the mirror. I got to stay in the mirror with Jesus. Can we stand up one more time? Here's what I would like y' all to do. We're going to jump back in that exercise once again. Here's what I want you to do beforehand. It's very important. All right? So the two of you, everybody has the same partners. Find your partner. If you had to move, you gotta relocate a little bit. You'll get some extra steps on your watch. You'll love it. Here's what I want y' all to do. Now, two of you still, you're gonna do the same mirror exercise. But here's what we're gonna do first. This will take a couple of minutes. I want you two to agree. Wait. All right, There is going to be a fictional person. Name him whoever you want. Name her, whatever you want. You're both. Each one of you is going to come up with a really fun memory about this person. You make them up. It could be Auntie Janine, Uncle Frank. Whoever it is, you two are going to agree on who this person is. And each one of you is going to come up with a memory, a fun memory, a great memory about that person. This is a person that does not exist. But the two of you agree on who they are. Okay? I'm going to give you two minutes. Two minutes. This is quick. So we're deciding. Pop, pop, pop. All right? A person and a fun memory both of you agree on about this person. It's all right. We got a minute left. That I see some Fun memories. Whoever this person is, man, I. I know I'm in a room full of actors and directors, because y' all going in. Y' all giving the personal history the whole deal. We got about 30 second. All right, we got 10 seconds. Okay. Five, four, three, two. All right. Okay. Everybody has that locked in. Okay, Everybody has that fictional person. Each one of you came up with a funny memory about that person. Y' all shared it. Y' all agreed this was something that happened with this person. It was funny. Y' all loved it, right? Okay, I want y' all to face each other again, okay? We're gonna do the same thing we did before. Pick who's gonna lead. You both will have an opportunity to lead. Pick who's gonna lead. Doesn't matter who goes first. All right, that was quick. So we're gonna do the same thing we did before. This time it'll be 20 seconds instead of 30. And then we're gonna do the same mirror exercise we did before. Here's what I want you to do. I want you, as you are leading and as you are being led, to have in mind the person and the funny things that you two agreed on happened with this person. All right, my arm is up. Y' all know the deal. When my arm comes down, start. My arm is still up. Y' all started. Some of y'. All. Wait a minute. Hold on. No talking. This is the mirror exercise we did earlier. So all you're doing is following the other person's motions. There's no talking. You're thinking in your mind. You remember who. You remember the funny thing that the both of you agreed about this person. And now we're going to do this mirror exercise just as we did before. Who's leading? You already know. My arm is up. Ready? Go. Oh, this is great. Okay. Three, two, one. Okay. All right. Okay. I'm pretty sure at some point, I saw the funky chicken. Somebody did the stanky leg. I was like, this is. This is it. Okay, it was. And hung tough. Whoever the mirroring was, like, really on point. Y' all are really killing this. Let me tell you, right? We're gonna switch places. The person who led is now gonna be the person to follow. Same thing. You remember the person. Remember the funny thing that the two of you agreed happened. 20 seconds. My arm is up. Y' all ready? You hold on. 20 seconds. And go. All right. 5, 4, 3, 3, 2, 1. Oh, my. Oh, man. Oh, this six weeks is going to be wild. Okay, I want to ask this for those of you who were following that's everybody here. Was it easier to follow the first time we did the exercise or this time? This time. Okay, couple people. Shout it out real quick. Why was it easier this time than last time? There was familiarity, common ground, heightened senses. It was comfortable. Share what? Anticipation, shared memory. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You knew the story. I'm done. I need to preach. Read your Bibles and you know the story. Amen. Good night. Relationship. Ah. Okay. I like it. So for those who are following, it was easier to follow this time, Right? For all the reasons. For those of you who were leading, which is everybody now. Leading. Was it easier to lead this time or the first time? This time. Why was it easier to lead this time? Knew the story. We liking that one. You knew the assignment. Come on. Preacher's up in here. You had something to base things off of. Ooh. Okay. You got to be creative. Say that again. Deeper understanding. Way back there. Go ahead. Communication. See, I heard that. That's good. Communication. Not afraid. Said fear not. Felt that one. Not afraid. Go ahead. Found it. You had a foundation. Y' all preaching. Go ahead. Confidence. Okay. You were on the same page way back there. I got. You no longer had a blank canvas. Okay. I thought. I think there's one hand kind of tucked away. There it is. Yeah. You're not hiding. You felt understood. It's a lot easier to lead when you feel like as you're leading, you are being understood. Yes. Okay, y' all have a seat. I'm done. I'm almost done. Listen to me. I'm done. I'm almost done. What you will find about developing a character. I mentioned earlier, one of the golden rules about developing a character for any role that you play, one is that you cannot judge that character, meaning their reality, their truth now becomes yours. So as a disciple, the reality of following Jesus is now our reality that has was supposed to be from the whole time. So we're coming back to that which was ours. What are the other golden rules about creating a character to step into is you have to have a history. You can't walk into an audition with a role, and they give you a name, and they give you what this person does. You can always tell who has done enough homework to know their backstory and who hasn't. Because what they do in the room, as an actor, when you walk in, what a lot of people who are casting films and casting projects, they want to see. Not just that you can nail this moment or not just that sheet of paper that they sent you that you learned all the lines for they want to know that you can go beyond what's there. And someone who authentically owns that role knows the history, history of this person. They understand the relationship this person has with other people in that script, with the time period, who they are. So actors will take a piece of paper and they put this to the side and they get a whole bunch of other sheets of paper and they build a history for this character. Where they were born, what they do, what memories they have collected together, the good things, the bad things, how they feel about politics. They fill in all of the blanks. But they do this by having a history. Because it is a lot easier to stay in character when you have history. John 10. And this is where we're going to leave. John 10, 27, 30. I don't even know if we're going to get all the way through, but I want you to add this series of verses to your character bio. As disciples, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me. I know them and they follow me. There's history. It's a lot easier to follow someone who knows you. Just like as in this mirror exercise. It's a lot easier to go where someone takes you when you have a common ground. You have an established history, you have Uncle Joe, who did that, or whatever character it was y' all agreed on, and whatever back history you gave and agreed on. Now you're following someone who you've gone through something with, and you're also following someone who knows you. So when I read my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, as a disciple I have to have ingrained in my character. Jesus knows me and he loves me. None of us as disciples are strangers to Jesus. He knows us. And the next part, and they follow Me. The terms of discipleship cannot be laid out any clearer. We hear his voice, he knows us. We follow Him. And what allows us to follow him is the history we develop as disciples following Him. We remember what he brought us through. We remember the things he has not just given us, but the things he's taken away that blessed us. We remember the times where the Holy Spirit was with us when other people was not. We remember that Jesus gave the greatest sacrifice humanity has ever known before I knew myself. If we're still early in the relationship history building with Jesus, keep that one in the back pocket if you can think of nothing else. He was the Lamb slain before all of creation. He knew me. He loved me. He died for me before there was a me. If I can't build history and follow that. Ain't nothing else I'm going to have. As disciples. One of the character building traits we have to have is always remembering our history with Jesus, whether we're early in our relationship with Jesus. That history with Jesus just means, you came in tonight and watch this. Before you came in tonight, he made the way for you to come in tonight. He knew you were gonna be here. That's why there is a tonight. And for those of us who have been rocking with Jesus for weeks, months, years, decades, every once in a while, we need to revisit our character bio. We need to revisit our history with our leader. We need to revisit the memories we've created. We need to remember the things that Jesus led us through. We need to remember how patient and gracious he was as we developed into who he needed us to be. We need to remember that he has never left us nor forsaken us. Makes it easier to follow a leader who you know won't leave you or forsake you. It's a lot easier to follow a leader who you know is your shepherd and you will have no lack. But as disciples, we have to do the work to keep the history alive, as any good actor would. Because when you have a history and you remember that history, when you go into scenes and situations and places you've never been before, you, you have history, you have history to rest on. You have an understanding of what it is to walk with Jesus through times and seasons that made absolutely no sense to you. And so then when life presents itself, a brand new season that you ain't ever seen before, that's designed to turn you into the version of you you ain't ever seen before. When Jesus starts speaking, when Jesus starts moving and Jesus starts telling me to stand when I want to sit, when Jesus tells me to take a step forward when I would rather lay down, I can follow him. Because we got history. We have an established history that as a disciple, I do my due diligence to keep in mind in all seasons, this is why you see the very best actors. You'll hear their story about how they got a role, and the script that they read for that audition is a piece of paper. And they have like one line, and they nail the one line in the room they've never been in before, talking to people they've never seen before, asked to do things at times they've never done before. I love auditions because once you step in the room, you don't know how it's gonna go, but You've got your history. You've done your homework. You have become this character. So now it doesn't matter whether you get into the room or on set or. Or in the building, no matter where they put you or on stage. Come on, theater actors, you own the character because you know the history. So we own being disciples because we always know our history. We have our backstory with Jesus down pat. He saved me here. He stayed with me here. His mercy has continued to endure through this season and that season he stayed with me. I remember how I sounded before I read the Word. And now I know a couple verses and I think of them all that, and he is loving me through all of it and with me through all of it. And he's leading me through spaces and places where, yes, there is grace, but there's also correction and there's also humility, and there's also edification, and there's also a stretching and there's also a crushing. He's with me in and through it all, me and Jesus have history. So that's what allows us as disciples, as Christians, to follow. I'm going to finish this verse, I promise. I'm going to have y' all out by Sunday. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. And watch this, keep this, remember this. And I give them eternal life. Doesn't matter how much you may feel like you're dying on the inside, because this season you're in is wearing you out. You're used to God speaking to you in soliloquies, and he's giving you one word answers. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. Once you fix your mind to be in the hand of God, to follow Jesus, no one will or no thing can take you out. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. And he repeats this. I love it. Always pay attention in the Word when God starts repeating himself and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I just gave you some history. I just gave you a character bio. If you're going to walk and continue to develop as a disciple, this needs to be in your character bio. Jesus, the Father of Jesus, the Lord, who gave you to him. Understand something. You didn't just stumble and fumble your way into the hand of God. God made a way. He said, they're going to be in my hand. I'm going to send Jesus to bring them to me. This was all. All set up. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. Whom you follow as a disciple has a father who is in him that is greater than all. He's greater than all my drama. He's greater than whatever I'm worried about right now. He's greater. He's greater than what I've been through. He's greater. He's greater. He is greater. He's greater than my origin story, which look crazy. He's greater. He's greater than the valley that I feel like I'm in right now because I can see the mountaintop, but I'm still in the valley. He's greater. My Father, who has given them to me is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and my father are one. The one whom we follow as disciples, the one whom we study, the one whom we have dedicated our lives to continuously learning from, has the Father in him. He's greater than all. And this is the best part. This is the best part. This is the best part. He knows me. There's some people, whether you're an actor or whether you are just someone who's had to walk in to try to get a job, one of the hardest place things to do is to walk into a room knowing you need something, they don't know you. That's a frosty feeling. But when you walk with your Father, when you follow Jesus and we continue to condition our mind and our character around the understanding that the one who is leading me where I don't know where I'm going knows me eternal. Let me make sure I got this clear. He doesn't just know me like he knows me for today and then tomorrow he doesn't recognize me. He knows me in my totality, in time. So he knew me when the doctor pulled me out, smacked me on the butt and I cried. Ah, he knew me then. He knew me as a teenager when I had pimples. Ah, still knew me. When I took way too long to graduate from Morehouse. He knew me. Somebody had some college flashbacks from that. As I was making my way through Los Angeles as an actor, still knew me as I was finding my way as a single man making my way towards the marriage. I never knew what happened. He knew me. And then when I became the husband I never knew I could be, and then started to have children and then I had to learn to become the father I never had. He knew me. And now as I'm standing here teaching everybody the Bible through acting exercises, he still knows Me. And when I'm 147 and I finally lay it down. Come on, listen. I speak Bible years over me. So when I'm 165 and we'll just keep going higher. The Father sent one who has known me and knows me throughout the entire stretch, all at one time. And he knows us all the same way. This is who I'm following. So as we build character, as we build history, as we really walk in, what it is to be a disciple, what it is to be a Christian, I want us to walk knowing the One who we follow not only knows us, not only are we given over to learning about him consistently, but the more we learn about him, the more we learn about us. And the more we learn about us, the more we can walk in who he is leading us to be. The more we follow, the more we stay in our mirror. As we build history with the One who's leading us, we become so comfortable with following him, we are developing parts of our character we didn't even know were there. Followers become more comfortable being leaders. Leaders become more comfortable following. And now Jesus can move you any single way he needs to. You can lead when you need to lead. You can fall in line when it's time to fall in line. And when you do it, people look at you and they say, jesus. Only the Holy Spirit can take one who is accustomed with leading and have them follow. Only the Holy Spirit can take one who is comfortable following and have them leading. The quiet one develops a loud voice. The loud one knows how to shut up. Because we become so attuned to following, he's the one telling us what to do the whole time. So that's act one, that's week one. Wanted to leave y' all with that last part because you can't walk this out without having it as muscle memory, spiritual muscle memory. He knows me. He's never left me. He's never forsaken me. He knows me. And because he knows me, I can develop character following Him. Amen. All right. You know I have some homework for you, right? Oh, God, I had a homework. Couldn't possibly leave you all. Because here's the thing about building character. There's always homework. You don't ever get days off character building. Every experience you have is an opportunity to build a part of our character, whether we welcome it or not. So we might as well get accustomed to doing it on a regular basis. So I have this one question. Let me say this best way I can does. And I want us all to ask this of ourselves. You can write this down. Does my life mirror the life of Jesus? It's a series of just three questions in one. The first part of it, does my life mirror the life of Jesus? Here's the second part. Where are we similar? Where are we different? Say it again. Does my life mirror his life? And I want you to remember following this person. Their hand went this way, their leg went that way. They laughed. You laughed. Y' all made me laugh. I wasn't even a part of the exercise, and I was mirroring laughter. Does my life mirror his life? Does my life mirror the life of Jesus? Where are we similar? Yay. It's right up there if you need to take a picture. Where are we different? I want you to have these as questions that we ask ourselves seasonally. I don't want us to do six weeks. You answered the question in week one. And then this winds up under the bed. Because at some point in time in our walk, everyone, not a single person who's immune to this, everyone, drifts a little to the left or a little to the right. And then you come back to these questions. And these questions are ones that get you center again in following him. And remember, as I said, you cannot judge the character. These questions are not for you to condemn yourself or judge yourself. These answers are answers that ultimately are designed to center you back up with him. Because there are areas we don't even know we're off center until we ask these questions. Say, ooh, okay, I need to do a little, little adjustment. There are no right answers. There are no wrong answers. There's just answers. And whatever work as disciples we are willing to do to get back on that path directly with him. Amen.
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Hey, family. Well, I pray that you will were just as blessed by this teaching as I was. I'm just so grateful again to be a part of a dynamic community full of love, full of revelation and wisdom. One has been a movement that's been blessing people for over two decades, and I'm so glad that you got an opportunity to experience it. I also have a podcast called the called it's right here on wherever you're listening to this Spotify or Apple or wherever you're listening to this podcast. You can just look up the call T H E C A L L E D with myself, Terre Roberts. This is designed for entrepreneurs, leaders, and business people. It's a weekly podcast and it will bless you. But, hey, I enjoyed having you here. Meet us here next week. Check out the call. Much blessings to you. We'll catch you next time.
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