Well, you know, having a big day, a lot of times, it does make you tired, doesn't it? But it's tired. I mean, your bones get a little weary, and it's okay to be weary in the work as long as we don't get weary of the work. Isn't that true? We get tired, and there's nothing wrong with being tired. You just need a little rest, but I don't want to get tired of doing the work that God has called us to do. Chapter 9, I'm going to preach on the subject classic discipleship, classic discipleship. There is a way of discipleship according to the Bible that's not exactly the same as a lot of discipleship. quote, unquote, discipleship is today. And we want to look at classic discipleship. Somebody might say, well, preacher, why do you even assume I'm interested in being a disciple anyway? Well, because of what he's done for you. We talked about that at great length this morning, both in our songs and in the message that he's done so much for us. What if a stranger out on the street. You're on the sidewalk in Searcy and some stranger comes up and says, hey, I'd like for you to join me in a parade and carry this placard, carry this sign that says, save the lizards. And he wants you to follow along and march through city. Would you be real interested in that? What if you were in a burning building and you were trapped and a firefighter is called to the scene and the firefighter, fire, that's hard to say. You try saying it ten times real fast. A firefighter breaks down the door and gets in there where the intense heat is and the smothering smoke and carries you out to safety and saves your life. And a few days later he comes to you and says, hey, I would, I'd like to ask you, we're gonna do a, we're gonna be involved in a parade in town and we're gonna have a fire engine going through and I'd like for you to, well, in fact, I'll tell you what, we just have a convertible for you and you sit in the back seat of the convertible and hold up this sign that says the fire department saved my life. Would you be willing to do that? That'd be a little more interesting, wouldn't it, than save the lizards? Why? they saved your life. You know what Jesus did? He saved our life. And so when he lays out the guidelines for being a disciple, how he wants us to live and follow his instructions and carry out the great commission, then I'm more interested in following Jesus because of what he did for me. I have a great respect and love for him because he saved my life. In a lot of modern ministry today, Felt needs is the order of the day. People go to church many times and choose a church many times that's gonna cater to their whims and their desires and what they feel like they need. Now, the Lord has laid out what we need. And if you go to a church where the Bible is the centerpiece and God gives you what you need, you would be taking a step downward to decide that you want to be part of a ministry where they cater to what you feel like you need. Emotions is the order of the day. I mean, even in our government, in our society, and everything that you see, all the craziness that goes on on TV and you see it on the internet and the news clips, people don't listen to logic much anymore. People are victims of I want, I need, the great me. I want you to meet my needs. That's called felt needs. ministry, felt needs discipleship. And many sermons are designed, prepared to cater to those felt needs. Now, our emotions are important, but what God says is much more important. And he knows more about what we need than we do. He's the maker, he's the builder. He created us and whatever he put in the Bible, he knows what we need. And so the reason he gave us these guidelines and this modeling of discipleship in chapter nine of Luke is so that we follow that design and accomplish for ourselves and for others what he wants us to do. Too many people are saying, you bless me. I'm not interested in blessing you, but you bless me. John F. Kennedy, if he ever said anything that was important, I think this was it. He said in a speech that, well, to ask not what your country can do for you, can do for your country. Now, the same thing goes for Christianity. Ask not as a servant of the Lord and as a disciple. Are you listening? As a disciple, I ought not to be asking, what can you do for me? As a disciple of Christ, I ought to say, Lord, what can I do for others? That's discipleship. Jesus directs his disciples in this passage of scripture in Luke 9 to minister Sacrificially. Oh, that's not popular today, but that's what he requires of his disciples. That's what he practiced himself, sacrificial ministry. He's establishing that truth for at least two reasons. Number one, for these disciples, he's laying down sacrificial ministry, sacrificial discipleship, going the extra mile for his cause to others, He's telling them they need to do that, number one, so it will develop their faith. As we live sacrificially, it helps us to develop our own faith. Because we're depending on him for our needs. I don't have everything ready-made that I think I need. But he meets my needs. And then there's a second reason why he was doing this for his disciples there. He could transfer, he's gonna be leaving. If Jesus didn't come to stay on earth, he came to be crucified and go back to heaven. And he knows he's gonna be leaving. He's not gonna be there to direct those disciples. So number one, he wants their faith to be increased so they depend on him. And number two, he wants to transfer power and authority to them. See, he's got power and authority, but he's leaving. And he said, guys, to his 12. I've got to get out of here, so here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna transfer some power and authority to you so you can carry on the work that I've designed for you to do. That's the classic discipleship model. Did we pray? I think we need to pray, don't we? Let's do that. Father, I pray that you'd bless us as we consider classic discipleship. Lord, help us to be willing servants for thee, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, let's read the first six verses of chapter nine. Then he called his 12 disciples together and gave them power and authority. There it is. He gave them power and authority over devils, all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach. Notice that word sent. He's the one doing the, he's deciding how things need to go and he's sending them. He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. And he said unto them, take nothing for your journey. There's some sacrifice, don't you think? Take nothing for your journey, neither staves nor scrip, neither bread, neither money, neither how-to coats apiece. And whatsoever house you enter into, there abide, and thence depart. And whosoever will not receive you when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them. They departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere. The first thing we'll need to see about classic discipleship here, it involves being willing to be sent. Now those guys were his disciples. They could have walked away. In fact, later on, many of his disciples did walk away. But these guys had to be willing to be sent. He's doing the sending, but they have to be willing. He sends us, but we have to be willing. And that's what we're focusing on just at this point, is willingness to be sent. This means that we'll need power and authority. In verse number one, he gave them power and authority. What if I decide to drive down the freeway at 120? Have I got the power and authority to do that? Well, I've got the power, I've got a Toyota. I've got the power, but I don't have the authority to drive 120 down the freeway. I could do it. Now what about Trooper Connor? Does he drive a Dodge? He's got a Dodge Charger, right? He's got the power, he's got a Dodge. He's got the power, but wait, he also has the badge, the uniform, the authority. If he's chasing somebody else who's speeding, if I'm driving down the freeway at 120, I've got the power but not the authority to do that. Speed limit is what, 70, 75? I can only do 75 legally. And so if I'm going 120, I've got the power but I don't have the authority. He's right behind me, lights flashing, he's got the power and the authority, he can drive 120 if he's in pursuit. That's his authority. And if a disciple is gonna be here in the name of Christ, carry out the commission of Christ, he needs the power and the authority. And Jesus said, I'm giving you both power and authority. I was, Aaron and I were in New York City, our first trip. I was delivering some trucks up there and we got lost in the middle of the night, about two o'clock in the morning. Got on across the Triborough Bridge and got out of Brooklyn into the Bronx. And driving around in the Bronx in the middle of the night and man, I mean, there was nobody on the street except all those who were criminals. I mean, there were drug pushers and prostitutes and every magic thieves, everything you can imagine crawling all over the streets. And here we are in a truck driving through the Bronx. We're trying to read him out and can't because people keep coming up to the truck and they don't look like people just want to visit either and so we're running around. Finally a police car comes up beside us, passes us, he's probably chasing criminals and he comes up beside of us and I have to wave him down. He almost went away and finally he saw me waving my hand and he came back up. There are two of them, two patrol officers in the car. And I told him what our plight was. We're in the Bronx. It's our first time in New York City, and we're supposed to be on the other side of Brooklyn. We're supposed to be over at Broad Channel to deliver that truck. He said, man, he said, do you know where you're at? I said, yeah, I think so. He said, you're in the Bronx. I said, well, yeah, I knew that. He said, do you realize you shouldn't be in the Bronx even in broad daylight, much less at 2 a.m.? I said, yeah, I know that, too. But believe me, officer, we don't want to be here. We're trying to get over yonder. He said, okay. He said, I understand. And he said, just get behind me, and I'm gonna lead you out of here. He said, you just follow us, stay right on our bumper, and we're gonna lead you out of the Bronx. I'll bring you up to the Triborough Bridge and point you in the right direction, and you just take off. He said, now whatever I do, you do the same thing. Well, here he goes. 900 miles an hour. He's running stop lights and stop signs. And he said to stay behind him and do what he did. So I'm running stop lights, stop signs. I'm thinking, is he going to arrest me? Is he tricking me? So we stay behind him. We get all the way up on top on the freeway to the Triborough Bridge. And he pulls over into a lane of traffic. And I mean, traffic's going all around us. He just stops in the middle of the traffic and has me to stop, and he pulls up beside of us, and we're, you know, traffic's having to go around us on the freeway in New York City. And so he rolls down his window, and he said, where are you guys from anyway? I said, we're from Arkansas. He said, oh, I see. He said, I kind of know what it's like to be in New York City when you're from the country. He said, I grew up in upstate New York. And he said, I was the same way when I got here. I didn't have a clue where I was at and what I was doing. And we just sat there in the middle of cars going both ways all around us. You know what, he had the authority to let us run those stop signs. He had the authority to stop in the middle of the freeway and just carry on and chat for a little while. We chatted like old friends. I mean, I figured New York City police officers would probably shoot you before they'd talk to you. But he was a nice guy. Both of them were. And so they finally said, well, you guys go straight across the bridge. And then he gave us directions. He said, have a safe trip. See you guys later. And they took off. Well, he had authority to do that. As disciples, we need authority today because we've been given the great commission and we're supposed to win people to Jesus Christ. And the reason Jesus gave these guys authority to heal is because they needed to have a way to present their authority, to show that their message was from God. You and I don't need the authority to heal and speak in tongues. Because we have the completed Word of God now. And we've got all the authority we need right here. And so He gave that to us. We've been given. And if we're going to use the authority and the power, what's the power anyway? That's the Holy Spirit. Here's our authority. The indwelling Holy Spirit is the power and so when we talk to somebody about the Lord, we have the authoritative message from heaven and we have the Holy Spirit's power to convict and to save. When Clayton was out on the porch after we dismissed this morning, he's out there waiting for me. I'm talking to people and shaking hands with people and he slipped up beside me and he said, Can I talk to you just for a minute? And I said, sure. He said, I think I need to get baptized. And I said, oh, well, OK. Let me say goodbye to a couple of people, and then we'll go inside and talk about it. And so I was convinced that he wanted to get baptized, but I wasn't convinced that he was saved. And so after I said a couple of goodbyes, I said, let's go into my office. And we went in and sat down. And I said, man, I'm really glad you want to get baptized. I said, tell me about when you got saved. And he said, well. I guess I don't know." I said, there wasn't a time in your life when you put your faith in Christ and you're born again. He said, I don't remember any time like that. And so I explained to him that, took him to Acts chapter 9, Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch that we talked about last week. I said that that Ethiopian eunuch wanted to get baptized and Jesus said, well, here's what we got to determine first. You have to believe. and believing comes first. And then they stopped the chariot and he got baptized. I said, now here, you need to put your faith in Christ and then we'll set up time to baptize you. And we did that. You know what? I didn't use the tactics of an overzealous vacuum cleaner salesman. I just presented the Word of God to him and let the Holy Spirit do His work. I said, are you sure that you want to believe on Christ and be saved? He said, man, I'm sure. He had tears in his eyes. and he prayed and asked the Lord to save him and he was choked up, he couldn't hardly talk and now he wants to get baptized. That's the authority of the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit that saves. That's how we get people to Christ. It's not because we're super salesman or got the gift of gab. It's because we present the message and let that person decide The Bible is our authority. The indwelling Holy Ghost is for power. Now let me move to a second thing. Being a disciple is about taking time to recharge your batteries. Notice in verse number 10. We're in Luke 9, verse number 10. We didn't read this a while ago. several verses in this chapter. Verse 10, and the apostles, when they were returned, now remember he sent them out, right, to preach the gospel? Now they're coming back, and it says in verse 10, and the apostles, when they returned, were returned, told him all that they had done, and he took them and went aside, watch this, privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. They were tired. They're doing ministry. Hey, you know, I asked you a little while ago, are you tired? Hey, wouldn't you have a big day? These guys have been, they had been on this evangelistic tour for some time. We don't know just how long they'd been out, but I suspect a pretty good while. And remember, they didn't have cars to drive. They were hoofing it everywhere they went. They were carrying their belongings on their back. They probably had to stop by a stream if they want to take a bath and wash their clothes every once in a while. They had to walk everywhere, and they didn't have red-winged boots. They were tired. They'd been preaching. They'd been going from house to house and town to town. They'd been ministering. They'd been carrying out the Lord's orders, but they got tired. And to be a good disciple, you need to recharge your batteries. when you get tired. I have been in ministries before where that ministry wanted to squeeze every ounce of energy out of you they could get and leave you wilted on the floor and then kick you and say, get up and keep on going. You need to recharge. I think people ought to work hard. I do. But when you're about to burn out, it's best to take a little time and just recharge. You can get more done. I was telling Brother Chad today about Lee Roberson when he pastored the big church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Thousands of members. Lee Roberson said, he said, I always work two days in one. I thought, well, he's gonna be one of those braggarts about how tough he is, how he can just endure and keep on going. He said, I'll get up early in the morning and I'll work one day, put in one day by noon. He said, then I go eat lunch, lay down, take a nap. He said, after I had my nap, I get up and work my second day. He said, that way I get two days into one. But he said, you gotta have that nap in between. I had a college professor tell me when I was in Bible college, he said, boy, sometimes, he was talking to a group of preachers, he said, sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is take a nap. When you get tired and your tongue is tangled up and you can't think clearly, that reminds me of getting up in the morning before I've had coffee. I mean, I'm stumbling around trying to get to the cabinet. Now, is this the coffee or is this hot chocolate? Got all those cobwebs up there. You get that way in ministry. When you get tired, you're not very productive. Take time to recharge. That's what Jesus is telling these fellows in verse number 10. He took them apart into a desert place. And I've heard it said, every once in a while, you need to come apart or you'll come apart. and we need to do that. They need to recharge their spiritual batteries. Some, listen, some get tired, confused, weary, and instead of recharging, they go until they can't go no more and then they quit. They burn out. They fall by the wayside. It happens to preachers a lot. They want to be so tough they don't have to stop. They can keep on going. They can just do anything because we're supermen. And then they keep on going until they burn out. And then they're out of the ministry and sometimes just completely out of church. Wouldn't it have been better if they had just told their church, look, I'm struggling. I don't want to quit. But I need to take a week or two Maybe a month. And I just need to go recharge so I can come back and fight the battle. And everyday Christians who try and do the work of the Lord, instead of quitting the ministry, instead of finding some new ministry that'll be more fun and different, instead of doing that, just take time to recharge. It's not wrong to rest. You don't have to spend a lot of money on a long trip. I mean, you don't have to go to Europe. You don't have to go to Hawaii. You don't even have to go to the Rocky Mountains. You could do like, you know what I do on Monday? I really cherish my Mondays. I've said a lot of times, I'm kind of an introvert. And I love people. Being an introvert doesn't mean you don't love people. It just means you cherish your alone time. and you need certain time when you can recharge. And I love being around people, but on Monday, I call that my day off. Now, it doesn't work out that way very often. Some people just decide to up and die on Mondays, and you gotta go and see about them, see about their family. I mean, that's not funny, but it happens. Somebody ends up in a hospital on a Monday, and that's okay. If that happens, it just happens, and we'll go see about them. But I'm saying on Mondays, what I really cherish is on Monday is not getting a phone call. On Monday, I just really cherish not having to do anything except just whatever I feel like doing at the moment. If I set aside Monday for that, I may decide just to sit there and sip on coffee for a couple hours. That's profitable. I may decide to read a book. I may decide to watch Perry Mason with my wife. I may decide to just go out in the orchard, take a folding chair out there and sit down and watch my bees work and just stare at them and do nothing. That's what I like to do on Monday, and I'm saying it doesn't always work out. But when I get through spending some time alone, just letting the fog clear from the mind, And sometimes it may not be a rest for the body. I might be out there with a pair of loppers trimming some trees on Monday instead of just lollygagging. I've got a hammock. It finally wore out, not from me laying in it. It rotted from sitting in the rain. But I've got a new one. I got a new one this spring, and I'm going to try to use it. Maybe. You know, something about just going out there laying in a hammock with a glass of iced tea in the summertime, looking up at the bees working in the blossoms in the trees, just not having to feel like there's some place I've got to be or something I've got to do. That just feels good. You need that too. Everybody, you say, well, I can't do that on Mondays. What about Tuesday or Saturday? No, Sunday. Well, Sunday is is a day that clears the fog out. Now we may end up being tired after Sunday, but it's a good tired. Jesus is telling his disciples, come apart with me into a desert place. We're just going to sit down, get away from the crowd. We're just going to sit down, and we'll talk for a bit if we feel like it, or we'll just rest. Now, I don't know if they had coffee or not. They should have. Most of us could be refreshed. We wouldn't have to take a trip, a vacation necessarily. Some of us could be refreshed. Are you listening? Some of us could be refreshed by going to bed a little earlier. Isn't that true? You know I'm right. Just get some sleep. Health professionals tell you that if you don't get enough sleep, you're not going to perform very well. And it's not possible for everybody to get the amount of sleep they want at a particular time. Those with babies know what I'm talking about. You may have to wake up a little more than you normally would. But when you get a chance, and when you can work it into your schedule, rest. Just get some extra sleep. Or those with families know this. If you've got your household under control, it's a refreshing thing. When your household is not in chaos, the kids are not bouncing off the ceiling. I mean, but that's up to you, parent. to put them under control. We have always taught our children that there is an inside way to play and talk and there's an outside way to play and talk. When we're in the house, we're not playing football. You say, well, I think that's what kids ought to do. Yeah, well, you go ahead and make your house chaos if you want to, but I'll have rest in my house, and we're not gonna have a football game in the house. You can go outside and do that, but you can't do it in here. And we have an inside voice. We always taught our kids that we have an inside voice, and then we have an outside voice. And never the twain shall meet. I mean, I see so many times parents at a restaurant trying to control their kids and the kids are just bouncing off the wall and causing all kinds of chaos and I always think, that's probably the way they act at home. And if they're not made to act right at home, why would we expect them to act right at church or at the restaurant? And so, I'm saying our life can be a peaceful life if we've got our family, our household in a routine where things go as planned and expected. And the parents, instead of asking your kids, tell them. You're the adult. How many amens did I get right there? Meddling. Some people stay tired, but it's not usually from ministry. It's usually from diversions. And so while it's important to get some rest, it's important to be relaxed and settled. Most of us tend to be tired just from the things we're doing that replace the things we ought to be doing. Disciples must be willing to be called to ministry and disciples have to be willing to recharge when their battery is low. Number three, a disciple is one, a classic disciple is one who understands that everything hinges on what we think about Jesus. Look at verse number 18 in our text. Verse number 18. And it came to pass as he was praying his disciples were with him and he asked them saying, whom say people that I am? There's a question. Who do people say I am? Jesus asked his disciples that. Verse 19, they answering said, John the Baptist, but some say Elias, and others say one of the old prophets is risen again. And he said to them, but whom say ye that I am? Here we're getting down to the brass tacks. Jesus said, yeah, I know there's people's got different opinions about who I am, but I'm dealing with you right now. Who do you say I am? Peter said, the Christ. of God. Peter knew who Jesus was. Now Peter was a goofball in a lot of ways, but Peter knew that the Lord was God. And Jesus is trying to teach them a lesson here, and all disciples can learn a lesson that what we think about Jesus pretty well controls everything that we do in other areas of life and in ministry. By the way, all of our life ought to be linked to discipleship. I mean, I'm not one of these guys that thinks that we compartmentalize everything, the secular and the sacred. When we belong to God, everything's sacred. He said, who do you think I am? Peter said, well, you're the Christ of God. For a disciple, we can't be shaky about that. We need to know who Jesus is, what we think about him. There's four alternatives that people believe about Jesus. Number one, he was just a legend. Some say, well, he was a liar. He wasn't who he made himself out to be. Some say he's a lunatic. He really believed he was God, but he wasn't. And others, like you and me, his disciples, we know who he is. He's the Lord. Josh McDowell, in his book, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, talked about those four things. You'd be wise to read that book sometime. I talked about Lee Strobel's conversion this morning. Kirk Cameron was an obnoxious atheist at one point, and then he was forced to examine the evidence of Christ And when he saw it for himself, he surrendered to the Lord, became a Christian, and later he starred in the Christian film series, Left Behind, about the rapture and the tribulation period. And Kirk Cameron does a lot of evangelistic work today, working with ministries and all. So he found out who Jesus was. We need to make sure we believe what Jesus has said about himself in his book. he can give us the power to minister and to be disciples. There's a fourth thing about being a classic disciple, and that's taking up our cross, take up our cross and follow him. Verse 23, and he said to them all, and notice that word all, he said to them all, I think we have to include ourselves in this, and he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross every once in a while. Is that what it said? What does it say? Daily. And follow me. So there's two parts to that. Take up the cross and follow him. Now taking up a cross means, well it's related to that sacrificial thing we talked about at the beginning. Daily means every day. It's not something we do every once in a while. This means we establish a routine in our life that today, I'm going to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, I'm going to serve Him. And that needs to be every day's decision. What's the three steps outlined here? Well, first of all, He says, let him deny himself. deny himself. It's not talking about giving up luxuries, not owning a nice car, or not having a good house. It's not talking about that. It's not talking about giving up things that really don't matter one way or the other. What denial is, means learning to say no to yourself. Learn to say no. You've got to treat yourself like a spoiled kid. You know how you are. You're just like me. You're made out of flesh. carnal flesh. And we're like a spoiled child. We want to have our way. We're saying, I want to do it my way. I want to do it my way. Nobody is going to tell me what to do. But Jesus said that's not the way you're going to be a classic disciple. If you're going to be a disciple, you're going to do it the Lord's way. It means to say no to yourself. You renounce the right to run your own life. That's why Christians need to be humble. because I'm not in charge. He is. Some people say, well, their level of commitment is like this. Listen to this. See if this sounds familiar. Maybe you know somebody like this. They claim to be a servant of the Lord, and they say, okay, they're talking to the Lord. They say, okay, Lord, I'll serve you, but just remember, I've got a family. I can't do everything somebody else can do. I've got a family. Okay, Lord, I'll serve you, but I can't let it interfere with my job. Huh? Okay, Lord, I'll serve you, but I'm a human being and I got my own needs, so I can't do everything that you ask of me. Oh. Jesus said, if you don't forsake all, you can't be my disciple. Then he says, let him take up his cross. Taking up the cross. Taking up the cross doesn't mean you have a mother-in-law. That's not a cross. Taking up your cross doesn't mean putting up with a numbskull boss at your job. I mean everybody, lost and saved people alike have that. Taking up your cross doesn't mean you've got a bossy spouse. Taking up your cross doesn't mean that you suffer from an illness. That happens to everybody, saved or not. It doesn't mean you have a handicap. Handicaps and illnesses are very serious. But that's not what the Bible's talking about when it's talking about taking up the cross. Taking up your cross, listen to this, taking up your cross is something you do willingly for His ministry's sake. It's not something that the world automatically has to do too. This is something that's attached solely to serving Jesus, taking up your cross. It's something you decide to do. It's specifically walking in Christ's steps. And several went back. John 6, 66, remember that verse? And it says, from that day, many went back and followed him no more. He knew, Jesus knew what it was like for people to turn away from him. And so, when we take up our cross, we stop looking out for number one. The world around us says, take care of yourself first. The world around you, the psychologists say, learn to love yourself. That's not what Jesus said. The world around us tells us to pamper ourself. Well, you know how hard you work, you deserve to go and blow some money on yourself. That's not what Jesus said. Live for yourself, that's what the world says. But Christ says live for God. Verse 26 makes it clear that there's no secret disciples. If you're ashamed of him, he'll be ashamed of you. Number five, being a classic disciple means understanding that there is a cost. Being a disciple means there is a cost attached to it. I want to be a disciple. Oh, yeah? It's going to cost you. It's going to cost you something to be a disciple. What will it cost me? Well, we can't attach ifs and buts to it. We got to say, I know it's going to cost me, to follow the Lord. It's going to cost us time and money, and it's going to cost us heartache, and we can't just decide, I don't want to serve Him. I don't want to be the kind of disciple that has to be uncomfortable. You know, you hear people say that every once in a while. Well, I don't feel comfortable about this. Well, you can't say that about serving Christ, not to be His disciple. Some people don't want to suffer the discomfort of having to love difficult people. You know some of you are hard to love. Now the only reason I know it's not hard for me to love you is because I've heard other people say you're hard to love. You know as a Christian you just have to love people. Are you listening? There's people in your own church that's not as easy to love as other people. And if you're going to be a disciple of Christ, you've got to be able to say, I know it's hard and it's going to be difficult to love that person, but God has called me to be His disciple and to be a classic biblical disciple. I've got to love them anyway. That doesn't mean you have to spend a lot of time with them, but you've got to love them. It means you don't exclude them from your circle. It means you have to love them like Christ loved you. You were unlovely and He loved you anyway. None of us are very lovely. Aren't you glad that he saw enough in you somehow? He saw something valuable about you that he wanted to save you. But you're not lovely. But he loves you anyway. And because of that, you ought to love other people. Some people don't want the discomfort of giving until it hurts. Well, I made good money this week, so I'm gonna give something to the Lord. What happened to being faithful? and giving till it hurts, giving sacrificially. You know what I found? Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive. I believe that is true, number one, because he said it, and number two, because I've tried it, and it works. It's more blessed to give than to receive. You know, your church runs on a budget, somewhat, and we have to pay bills. There are electric bills, there's heating bills, and air conditioning bills, and there's water bills, and there's insurance bills. And mortgage payments and all kinds of stuff like that. We even have to buy paper once in a while for the copy machine. And paper towels so you can dry your hands in the bathroom. And it takes money to operate all that. We've got some people that are really faithful givers and some are maybe more sporadic. And our guys that count the money, they don't tell me who gives what and I don't ask. But I just know people. I know that some people are geared such that they give when they feel like it and they don't when they don't feel like it. But being a classic disciple means living sacrificially and giving when it hurts. Giving because it's needed. Giving because it's God's plan. Some people don't want the discomfort of being disliked. You know, as a disciple of Christ, everybody's not going to like you. I have a few enemies I can't figure out for the life of me why I'm such a nice guy. But I got a few people that don't like me. But I found out that every Christian who tries to be a disciple is going to have some people that won't like you. Some people won't commit themselves to be a disciple because you got a friend that goes to another church, it's some old liberal church, and if you let them know what kind of church you are, you try to hide it because you're afraid they'll make fun of you and they'll mock you because you're one of those kind of Christians. You believe in separation. You believe ladies ought to dress like ladies. You believe that you ought to witness to people. And so they think you're a nut. They're not going to like you. Some people don't want to be a disciple because of that. They don't want to be disliked. You know what? Jesus wasn't liked by everybody. You figured that out when he got crucified, I think. Everybody didn't like him. Can you think of anybody who ought to be more likable and lovable than Jesus? I can't think of one soul on earth ever in history that should have been loved like Jesus should have been loved, yet he had enemies. He had people who didn't like him. And if you're gonna be a disciple, you're gonna be a classic disciple, you're gonna be the kind of disciple that Jesus asked to give up everything and to follow him. Take up your cross and follow him daily. If you do that, there's gonna be people who won't like you because of who you are. They'll think you're a nut. And some of you are nuts. Just check and see if you're listening. But let me wrap this up. Being a disciple means willing to be sent. Are you willing to let him send you or do you put conditions to it? I'll follow you if. I'll let you send me, but being a disciple It doesn't mean you have to take time to recharge every once in a while. When you get to the place where you're not enjoying being a Christian anymore, don't quit being a Christian. Go get by yourself somewhere and get along with God and recharge your battery. Being a disciple means understanding that what you think about Jesus, everything hinges on it. You will react in every area of life depending on what you think about Jesus. Being a disciple is about taking up our cross living in a sacrificial way. Being a disciple means understanding that there is a cost. You won't always be comfortable. You won't always have everything you want. And you won't always have friends from every corner that you'd like to have. You won't always have the amount of money that you'd like to have. You won't always be in control of your schedule. But because you're a Christian, you do the right thing. because you want to be a disciple. Let's pray together. Father, I pray that you'd bless us in the invitation time. Lord, I pray that you'd help us to determine to be the kind of disciples that are classic Christian disciples, the way that Jesus commanded them to be. Lord, I pray that you'd help us not to put conditions on serving you, but in our heart we just say, Lord. My head's about, eyes are closed, will you stand with me?