The Dead Work of Human Decision: A Critique of ‘Fisher of Men’

• The Great Commission [00:27:32 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the sermon series and defines the church's primary assignment based on Matthew 28:19-20.
• Discipleship vs. Salvation [00:33:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor clarifies that while God creates converts and saves sinners, the believer's role is to make disciples by introducing people to Jesus and helping them follow Him.
• Definition of a Disciple [00:38:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor defines a disciple as a student, follower, or apprentice who emulates their master (Jesus), historically illustrated by the concept of being covered in the dust of one's rabbi.
• Partnership with God (Co-mission) [00:40:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor explains that making disciples is a 'co-mission' where believers align their desires with God's, ensuring success because they work side-by-side with Jesus.
• Replication through Teaching [00:44:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that believers replicate themselves by preaching the gospel and teaching the Bible consistently, without watering it down.
• Church Infrastructure and Authority [00:48:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor highlights the church's provided architecture (classes, groups, prayer times) as the means for believers to take authority seriously and engage in discipleship.
• Personal Responsibility [00:50:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor urges the congregation to stop waiting for professionals and adopt a mindset of 'it's my responsibility' to make disciples and serve.
• Personal Responsibility in Discipleship [00:51:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that believers do not have the luxury to wait for others to act; it is their personal responsibility to invite, fund, and reach out to others.
• Methods of Discipleship [00:55:18 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor lists practical, low-barrier methods for discipleship such as praying together, reading the Bible, sharing meals, and living in close proximity.
• The Gospel and Salvation [00:58:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor addresses the necessity of becoming a Christian (a disciple of Jesus) before making other disciples, outlining the steps of repentance and faith.

• Sermon Illustration [00:34:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote from 1993 where he attended a Motley Crue concert. His friend, a musician in a Christian rock band opening for Motley Crue, encouraged him to witness to the band. Despite being scared and intimidated by the 'metalheads' and drunk classmates, the Holy Spirit gave him the courage and words to share the gospel with the band members backstage. While no one was saved that day, the experience taught him that Jesus provides the provision and anointing to do what He commands.
• Sermon Illustration [00:43:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes a co-working space in Greenville called 'Rome' to illustrate how the church functions as a shared workspace where different people work together for the same mission.
• Sermon Illustration [00:51:31 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of a pothole in the road to contrast the American tendency to say 'somebody ought to do something' with the Christian mandate to take personal responsibility for discipleship.
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his former pastor, Jake Thornhill, who put his arm around him when he was 14, illustrating the personal investment and care involved in discipleship.
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal story about his former pastor, Jake Thornhill, who discipled him by taking the assignment seriously, offering specific encouragement after his first sermon, and asking if he wanted to get better rather than focusing on mistakes.

• Pastoral Charge [00:32:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > To actively make disciples of all nations, baptize them, and teach them to obey Jesus' commands.
• Pastoral Charge [00:49:35 ▶️ 📄]
  > Text 'discipleshipofferings' to 30303 to receive links to classes and groups.
• Pastoral Charge [00:57:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray for a specific person or group to begin discipling.
• Pastoral Charge [00:58:59 ▶️ 📄]
  > Repent, believe in Jesus' resurrection, and invite Him to take control of one's life.
• Pastoral Charge [00:59:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > Pray a specific prayer of salvation and commitment to discipleship.
• Pastoral Charge [01:00:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > Raise hand to publicly indicate a decision to follow Christ.
• Pastoral Charge [01:02:07 ▶️ 📄]
  > Move to the cross or ministry team member to receive next steps.
• Pastoral Charge [01:02:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > Christians not currently discipling others should approach ministry team members to get started.

[00:02:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:02:52] This is Quinny, and we are planting a church in St. Petersburg, Florida.
[00:03:00] It's so good, and what's it called?

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:03:02] It's called Orange City, and we're planting it downtown St. Pete, and it's...

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:03:14] It's so that we had a preview service recently, had 180 people at it, and we launch in just a few weeks, and we're so excited. So we love you guys. We love New Spring.

[00:03:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:03:25] love you say bye bye hello new spring we're the mancia family my name is gerardo but everybody calls me g this is my son cruz my daughter camila and my wife morgan we are starting a church here
[00:04:54] in stone mountain georgia and we are excited to live out the great commission one of the ways we live out the great commission uh first is through our family yeah so in the mornings we start our

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:05:05] day with reading our Bible and praying with our children. And then we also try to serve with our children in the city and then we celebrate Sabbath. How we're doing that through the church

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:05:19] is a free ice cream. Every city event, we are available to serve free ice cream and has really opened a lot of doors in our community, not only for us to partner with the city, but also to share
[00:05:35] the gospel and so we just want to say thank you for your generosity thank you for letting us live out the great commission here in the city of stone mountain where we believe there will be
[00:05:46] reconciliation and hope uh have a great day we love you guys bye

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[00:05:51] Good morning, church. It's so good to see everybody. Man, what a great day it is. And I love,

[00:11:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:11:30] I love us opening with that song, Awake My Soul and Sing. Church, God is doing something right now. We want to see his kingdom come, his will be done here as it is in heaven. And this season,
[00:11:41] as the season's changing, it's just a great time to lean in. And so I love us opening that kind of way this morning so that we open up our own hearts for what God has for us today. He's got good plans
[00:11:53] for us to prosper us as hope and future. So I'm excited about the day. Here's what we want to do for just a minute, church. My name is Jason. If I've never had the chance to meet you, we're glad
[00:12:04] you're here, but we're not going to have a seat instead. I want you to look at somebody on your left, somebody on your right, and here's what I want you to do. Tell somebody what you're thankful
[00:12:14] for this morning. What are you thankful for? Let's do that right now. So much good gratitude happening in the room. I love it. We're entering his gates with thanksgiving this morning. So many reasons to be thankful this morning. So many good reasons to be thankful. You know, we get to pause
[00:13:01] in times like this as we gather together as a church family and worship together. We get to sing.
[00:13:06] we're going to sing a song called Gratitude in just a minute. And so whatever came to your mind or into your heart just now, when you were thinking about what you're thankful for, as we sing these
[00:13:16] words, just remember that all the good gifts that come, come from the Lord. James is clear about that when the writer in James says, every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the
[00:13:26] Father of heavenly lights. And so we're grateful this morning. And when we enter into to worship together as a church family, one of the ways we do that is through our giving, through bringing our tithes and offerings. So we're going to sing and keep worshiping that way, but we're also going
[00:13:39] to worship by bringing tithes and our offerings this morning. And so the way that we're going to prepare our hearts and minds to do that is by agreeing on this prayer together. And so I'm
[00:13:48] going to ask the team to throw this up. We did this last week and there's power when we agree as a church family. And so let's pray this out loud together and let's just continue to worship
[00:13:58] through our singing and through our giving. Father, I pause and remember how generous and faithful you've been to me. I choose to respond to your generosity by giving that which was never mine in the first place. All I have and am belong to you. We worship you now, both with our song
[00:14:19] and with our tithes and offerings. May you bless and multiply that your praises may be heard to

[00:14:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:14:26] the ends of the earth. Amen. You guys sing with me, All My Words Fall Short.

[00:15:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:15:04] so good to us as we continue to sing just a verse that i keep coming back to this week

[00:20:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:20:26] it's at the end of psalm 13 he says david writes i will sing to the lord because he has dealt bound to flee with me. I will sing to the Lord. God's been so good to us in ways that we know
[00:20:42] some ways he's been good to us, but God's been so good to us in ways that we will never even know.
[00:20:47] In David's response, he said, I will sing to the Lord. My question to us is what will your response be right now? What will my response be when I see how good he's been? We open our mouth and we sing

[00:20:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:20:58] to him. Come on, let's sing what he's done. I hear the Savior say, thy strength indeed is small.
[00:21:11] Child of weakness, watch and pray. Find in me thine all in all. Come on, Jesus paid.
[00:21:22] Jesus paid it all to him Sin had left a crimson stain He washed it white as snow Come on, Jesus paid, sing it out.

[00:22:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:22:09] Jesus paid it all

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:22:12] Complete Jesus died my soul to save Lips shall still repeat

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:23:04] Come on, sing it one more time.

[00:25:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:25:38] Jesus paid it all to him. I had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.

[00:26:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:26:05] And Lord Jesus, we thank you that because of your blood that you shed on the cross, our sins have been forgiven. Our debt has been paid. There is no condemnation for us now.
[00:26:24] We don't have to live in shame.
[00:26:27] We don't have to carry regret with us.
[00:26:30] You took it all on the cross.
[00:26:32] When you said to Telestai, you meant that a war had been fully won, a debt had been fully paid, and a sentence had been fully served.
[00:26:44] And now today, with liberty and freedom, we can rejoice in your gospel and we can bless your name, Jesus.
[00:26:51] and we give you the highest place.
[00:26:54] We declare that you are the King of Kings.
[00:26:56] You are the Lord of Lords.
[00:26:57] You have no challenger.
[00:26:59] You have no rival.
[00:27:00] Satan, the Lord God, rebuke you at New Spring Church today.
[00:27:03] You are a defeated foe.
[00:27:05] Your days are numbered.
[00:27:06] And Jesus, we long for the day we'll see you face to face.
[00:27:09] Give us a taste of your presence right now as we open up the word.
[00:27:14] In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
[00:27:17] Come on, somebody, tell Jesus how thankful you are that he paid it all. My name's Clayton King. I'm one of your pastors here, and I'm honored to preach for you today in this series called The Great Commission. Pastor Brad kicked off
[00:27:32] this series last week, and we want to help you understand the assignment that the Lord has given us. What's our business? Our business is The Great Commission. How's business? Well, business is going and well because we are packed at every campus today. I want to welcome all of you to church.
[00:27:51] Thank you for being here at the gathering. There are so many fresh, young college faces across all of our campuses today. I did something yesterday that I knew I would regret, but it was necessary.
[00:28:04] We moved our college sophomore into Anderson University yesterday, and of course he needed some things and he wanted mama and daddy to pay for it. So where did we go? Jojo, we went to Target
[00:28:17] on Clemson Boulevard. There were approximately 16 squillion college students at Target yesterday on Clemson Boulevard. I wish I had invested in Target in June. I would be a millionaire right now. So welcome all of you to God's house as God's people gather today to learn from God's word.
[00:28:39] I want to ask a question, and I can, of course, only see this room right here, but every campus.
[00:28:46] I want to ask you a question. If you think about this past week, what are some things that you made this week? Now, I'm going to go out on a limb, and I'm going to ask for some crowd participation
[00:28:58] right here at the Anderson campus, and there is no wrong answer. Somebody, raise your hand. I'm going to call on a couple of you. What did you make this week? There's a lot of different things
[00:29:07] you can make. I want to see if we can get our minds in that. What'd you make this week? You made money. Come on. That's what I'm talking about. Amen. And 10% of that belongs to the Lord. I'm
[00:29:20] just, it's called a tithe everybody. I'm just trying to teach when I can Joe's angle. What did you make this week? You gardening. Yeah. You worked in the garden. Very good. Awesome. You made some vegetables. Okay. What, what did you make this week? You made banana bread. Thank you
[00:29:39] for sharing that with me, Lauren. And you know where I live. So y'all just dropped some off at the house in a little bit. Yes. What did you make this week? You made muscles because you went to
[00:29:49] the gym. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah. All right. Yeah. What'd you make pastor? You made barbecue ribs. That's exactly what Dale said. Barbecue ribs, man. You sound like Colonel Sanders when you said that. All right. Oh, one more. Rachel, what'd you make this week? TikToks.
[00:30:11] You made TikToks for New Spring Church for Fuse. That's right. I love that. We make all kind of things. How many of y'all made decisions this week? Some of them good, some of them bad. Okay.
[00:30:21] How many of you made your bed this week? Oh yeah. I'm married to one of y'all. I'm married to one of y'all. You like to make the bed. We make all kinds of things. We make resolutions. We make
[00:30:31] mistakes. There's a lot of things that we can make, but there's only one thing that Jesus commanded us to make, disciples. And what I want to tell you today, I'm so excited to preach this
[00:30:44] message. You can make disciples. You can do it. You actually can do it. It is possible. You don't have to be a professional Christian. You don't have to be seminary trained. You don't have to
[00:30:59] be on staff at a church. You, if you know Jesus, can make disciples. You can do it. Let me follow it up with another statement. You must make disciples. Not only can you make disciples,
[00:31:14] but you must make disciples. This is an all swim for all of us at New Spring Church. And it's actually what Jesus told us to do. This is our job description. This is our business. We're going
[00:31:31] to read the Great Commission together from Matthew chapter 28, verses 19 and 20. I want you to say this out loud with me. We're actually going to put it up on the screens because only 17% of
[00:31:45] evangelical Christians even know what the Great Commission is. We're going to fix that at New Spring Church. In this church, you're going to know the Great Commission, and we're going to work on it together. Let's put that up there right now. The Great Commission. Read it out loud with
[00:32:00] me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.
[00:32:17] And remember, I am with you always to the end of the age.
[00:32:23] That's our job description.
[00:32:25] That's our commission.
[00:32:26] We can make disciples.
[00:32:29] We must make disciples.
[00:32:32] Now, I know that a lot of times when you hear or when I hear the Great Commission, there's automatically in some of our hearts, this fear, this feeling of, now, wait a minute.
[00:32:44] I can't save anybody.
[00:32:45] This is too hard.
[00:32:46] I can't make anybody believe in Jesus. I wouldn't know what to say. I may find myself in a situation where somebody asked me a question and I don't know the answer to it. And I don't feel like I
[00:32:59] belong in that space. I don't feel comfortable discipling somebody because a lot of us think it's our job to save people. And it's not. It's not our job to save. As a matter of fact,
[00:33:12] I like to put it this way. God creates converts. We make disciples. Only God can save. Only Jesus can save a sinner. Only the Holy Spirit can draw someone to salvation in Christ. God creates
[00:33:30] converts. He's the one that actually forgives them of their sin. Our job is to just make that introduction and then help them follow Jesus as a disciple. I hope that that takes some of the
[00:33:43] pressure off of us when you think about making a disciple. And if you've ever felt like you don't belong in that space, or you wouldn't know what to do, or you don't feel equipped or trained,
[00:33:55] you don't feel ready to disciple people into following Jesus, I've got a story I can tell that I hope will illustrate just how simple it is to actually do this today. So in 1993, I'd been
[00:34:08] graduated from Hillcrest High School for two years. I was invited to attend a rock concert of a band that some of y'all may have heard of, some of y'all may have even seen live.
[00:34:21] This band was affectionately then and is still known as Motley Crue. Does anybody know a single Motley Crue song at New Spring Church. I bet you do. Some of y'all are just ashamed to admit it.
[00:34:37] Well, it was a concert that summer at the old Greenville County Fairgrounds on Whitehorse Road, right off of Highway 25. And one of my childhood friends, his name was Phil, he was in a Christian rock band called Birthright, and they were awesome. And they got invited to
[00:34:55] open up for Motley Crue. So Phil calls me and says, okay, preacher, here's your chance. Would you like to come to the concert? My answer of course was, yeah. He said, you want to come
[00:35:09] backstage with us? Yeah. And maybe you can even witness to Motley Crue. And I started getting excited, but then I started getting afraid. I don't know how to witness to these metalheads.
[00:35:21] I'm sure they've been smoking beer and drinking pot before the concert. So I show up and I'm scared. I'm really sort of intimidated. Phil lets me in. I have no press pass. I don't have a
[00:35:36] security badge. It's just me in shorts and a t-shirt walking around. And because it was an outdoor venue, there were thousands, probably 3,000 people already there at the Greenville County Fairgrounds. I went to high school with half of them and they're all drunk as a skunk.
[00:35:57] And then Motley Crue walks out of a bus up onto the stage to start sound checking.
[00:36:04] Phil sees Motley Crue. He goes, there they are. I was starstruck. I was like, yeah, man, and you're going to get to open for them and share the gospel in your music. He goes, and you're an evangelist and you're supposed to be sharing the gospel with people all the time.
[00:36:20] Why don't you walk up there and talk to them right now about Jesus? I'm like, they're sound checking. He goes, perfect time. What are you scared? It's all he had to say. It's all he had
[00:36:30] to say. I was, yes, I was scared to death. Walked up on stage. They're literally picking up their guitars and putting them on. And I just walk up. I'm like, Hey guys, y'all have a second. And they
[00:36:42] stopped dead in their tracks. And the lead singer goes, yeah, man, what's up? I'm like, well, I was wondering if I could have a minute to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with you
[00:36:50] guys. I'm a Christian and my best friend's band is opening up for y'all. He goes, oh yeah, those guys are pretty good. I'm like, yeah, he invited me to come. Would you mind if I tell you how I
[00:36:58] got saved? And they go, that'd be great. And they just stop. And I'm like, oh, well, so there was this one time when I was like, you're awesome. And I was so scared and I didn't know what to do.
[00:37:15] And in my heart, I was like, Holy Spirit, help, Holy Spirit, help, Holy Spirit, help.
[00:37:19] And while I'm praying for the Holy Spirit to help me, some of my drunk classmates from Hillcrest that I hadn't seen in two years recognize me. And they start yelling, Clayton, what's up, Clayton?
[00:37:29] Rock and roll, Clayton. And the guys from Motley Crue look at me and go, who are you?
[00:37:35] I'm like, I'm nobody. The Holy Spirit gave me the courage. The Holy Spirit gave me the words.
[00:37:40] the Holy Spirit gave me the calm confidence to just tell those guys the gospel. And all four of them prayed to receive. No, they did not. Nobody got saved. Nobody gave their life to Jesus that
[00:37:54] day. But what that taught me is I can do everything that Jesus has commanded me to do.
[00:38:02] You can do everything that Jesus has commanded you to do because where Jesus commands you to do something, Jesus also provides the provision and the anointing and the confidence to actually do it. And that's the good news about making disciples. You can make disciples. And I'm going
[00:38:22] to show you how. Well, let's define it. What is a disciple? What are we even talking about here?
[00:38:26] A disciple is simply a student, a follower, an apprentice. That's what a disciple is.
[00:38:34] It's someone who studies their master.
[00:38:37] It's someone who follows their master.
[00:38:41] It's someone who is apprenticed by their master.
[00:38:45] And Jesus was the master.
[00:38:48] And in the days of Christ, when someone was called a disciple, it simply meant that they had a rabbi they followed.
[00:38:54] They had a teacher that they emulated.
[00:38:57] The goal of becoming a disciple is to become like your master.
[00:39:01] And so when Jesus was living on earth, he was called rabbi, that meant teacher.
[00:39:07] Jesus was Jesus then as savior, king, and Lord, but now for us, he is the rabbi that we follow.
[00:39:15] There was a phrase that they used in the rabbinical schools in the days of Jesus, that if you were the student of a master, if you were studying under and following as an apprentice, a rabbi,
[00:39:25] you wanted to walk so closely behind them.
[00:39:28] You followed them everywhere they went.
[00:39:30] you studied everything that they did. You were so closely attached to them that when they walked, you would be covered in the dust of your rabbi. And that's what it means to be a disciple,
[00:39:43] that we are following Jesus and we are becoming more like Jesus. So if Jesus has commanded us to go into all the world and make disciples, how do we make them? How do we make them? How do we
[00:39:58] form? How do we shape? How do we train others as a church? And how do you individually as a believer, how do we make disciples? And as I unpack four simple things that you can do, I want to make
[00:40:14] sure you understand this is what we are doing as a church. We as a church have built the architecture for you as a believer, as a disciple yourself. We have created the processes. We have planned out
[00:40:31] the teachings, the classes, and the groups for you to plug in to what is happening here so that we can make it as easy as possible for you to not only continue your discipleship, but for you to
[00:40:46] make disciples of others as well. So how do we make them? Well, number one, we partner with God.
[00:40:54] We partner with God. The great commission is a co-mission. That means there are two of us on this mission together at minimum. Co means to do it together. And if we are working with God and
[00:41:11] making disciples, I've got really good news for you, New Spring Church. That means you can't fail.
[00:41:18] I've said this before several months ago, right here on this stage. When we want what God wants, we always get what we want. Think about this. If my desires align with God's desires, if you and I can walk so closely with Jesus that our desires align with Jesus' desires,
[00:41:40] Jesus will always ultimately get what he wants.
[00:41:43] So if I want what he wants, that's the best way for me to get what I want.
[00:41:48] But it means I have to die to myself and my selfishness.
[00:41:51] It means that we have to learn what it means to serve others and to submit ourselves to God's plan.
[00:41:56] So what this means in the context of the Great Commission is that Jesus wants the world to know him.
[00:42:04] Jesus wants the world to be saved.
[00:42:06] Jesus wants the world to know the kingdom of God and be a part of this family called the church.
[00:42:12] So if that is Jesus' mission to redeem and reconcile the lost to God and we join Jesus in his mission, it now becomes a co-mission and we are now partnering with Jesus.
[00:42:27] We have locked arms with Jesus.
[00:42:30] We are working side by side with Jesus.
[00:42:35] We are moving in the same direction as Jesus.
[00:42:38] We are aiming at the same target as Jesus.
[00:42:43] This simplifies our life so much and it demystifies discipleship.
[00:42:48] And I want you to just let all the fear, all of that pressure, I want you to let all that melt off your shoulders today to realize that when you get serious about being a disciple and making disciples,
[00:43:03] you have the resources of heaven at your disposal to make that possible in your life.
[00:43:13] Earlier this week, me and some of our staff went to a co-working space in downtown Greenville.
[00:43:19] It's called Rome.
[00:43:20] One of our friends, Greg, runs the place.
[00:43:22] And it's a co-working space.
[00:43:24] So people come there from different organizations and different businesses and they work in the same space together.
[00:43:30] That's what we're doing as a church.
[00:43:32] we're working in the same space together. And it might look like kids spring. It might look like volunteering in the parking lot. It might look like tithing. It might look like volunteering for gauntlet. It might look like working on staff here. It might look like rehearsals for the band
[00:43:49] every week. It might look like teaching team meetings, pre-records on Wednesday. There are so many different jobs that we do in our assignments, but we're all working together for the same mission that the world might know Jesus. That everyone, everywhere can be in an everyday
[00:44:12] relationship with Jesus Christ. That's God's mission. We're joining him. Now it's a co-mission and it's the greatest of all the commissions that Jesus gave.
[00:44:26] Go and make disciples of all people.
[00:44:29] Now, how do we do that?
[00:44:30] Number two, we replicate ourselves.
[00:44:33] We replicate ourselves.
[00:44:35] We multiply in the earth.
[00:44:38] When Jesus gave us this commission, he meant for us to give what we have, to multiply who we are, to replicate ourselves.
[00:44:47] Mark also has the great commission at the end of his gospel. And I want to read to you Mark's words in his great commission.
[00:44:57] One of the beauties of the gospels is that they all four tell the same story from different perspectives. And listen to how Mark records the great commission in Mark chapter 16, verses 14 through 16. Later, he appeared to the 11 themselves as they were reclining at the table.
[00:45:15] He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen. And then he said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel
[00:45:30] to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. This is the commission. And how do we replicate ourselves? How do we multiply who we are? It's very simple. We do it by preaching the gospel and teaching the Bible. In Matthew's
[00:45:54] great commission, he says, teach them to observe and obey all the things I've commanded. That's what we do at New Spring. And I want to make sure that you see this and that you feel this. As a
[00:46:07] church, we are focused on God's word. We teach the Bible. We teach the easy parts. We teach the hard parts. We get excited about the parts we love and we get convicted about the parts that cut us to
[00:46:25] the quick. And we do not apologize for it and we don't dumb it down and we don't water it down, but we believe it. We hold it out as our guiding light in the world. And we don't get swayed by
[00:46:39] trends. We are committed to the timeless truth of God's word. So the best way that we can replicate ourselves is to teach what the Bible says, to teach it consistently and faithfully and to proclaim the gospel. So that means that we are about evangelism and we are about discipleship.
[00:46:59] they are not at war with each other. They are related. They are in many ways, the exact same commission. And when he says, go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all creation,
[00:47:11] that is what we want. Because Jesus said, when the whole world hears the gospel, then the end will come. Side note, I know a lot of us like to sometimes get sucked into the Instagram reel or the TikTok influencer. And I get these questions a lot as a pastor, Clayton,
[00:47:28] Do you believe that Jesus is coming back?
[00:47:29] Do you believe we're living in the last days?
[00:47:31] What about the second temple?
[00:47:32] What about the third temple?
[00:47:33] What about the red heifer?
[00:47:34] What about Israel?
[00:47:35] What about the war?
[00:47:36] And here's what I'm gonna tell all of y'all.
[00:47:38] Here's what we believe as a church.
[00:47:39] We are closer to the return of Jesus today than we have ever been.
[00:47:44] And we better live like it.
[00:47:46] And that's all I gotta say about that.
[00:47:49] Why?
[00:47:50] Because whether Jesus comes back this afternoon or whether in his patience and long suffering, he waits another millennia to return. We have an assignment. We got a job. We need to be busy making disciples. We do that by teaching the Bible and preaching the gospel. We also take authority
[00:48:13] seriously. That's how we make disciples. We take authority seriously. And what that means is Jesus says, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples.
[00:48:31] The authority that Jesus has been given as the resurrected son of God, he has now given to us to go and fulfill this great commission. Can I tell you practically how we do this as a church?
[00:48:44] I've already alluded to this. We take that authority seriously. That's why this fall, we have classes and we have groups and we have men's groups and we have prayer times and we have fuse and we have kids spring and we have connect classes happening right now as a matter of fact
[00:49:04] we have tried to like i said build the architecture and the structure so that you can just look at all of the offerings available and you and your spouse or you as a single man or woman or you as a college
[00:49:16] student or you as a family can look at that, pray about it and go, where do I need to plug in? Where do I belong? There is no excuse at New Spring Church for anybody that wants to be a disciple
[00:49:28] to not get involved in discipleship. No excuse. And I'm going to give it just another push here.
[00:49:35] I want you to just take out your phone. And if you want to become more acquainted with discipleship, you can actually text discipleshipofferings to the magic new spring number.
[00:49:47] It goes right to the bat phone of heaven.
[00:49:50] Actually, I don't know where it goes, somewhere in our office complex.
[00:49:53] 30303, just text the word discipleshipofferings to 30303.
[00:49:57] And you know what we'll do?
[00:49:58] Someone will respond to you.
[00:50:00] There'll be a link for you to click and you can see all of the classes we offer.
[00:50:04] You can see all of the groups that we offer.
[00:50:07] You can look at, especially our evangelism class that's beginning this fall. We want to teach you how to share your testimony. We want to teach you how to talk about Jesus with other people. We want to demystify this whole concept of evangelism
[00:50:23] and help you be bold and confident as you talk about Jesus with your friends that you want to meet Jesus. No excuses. There's your opportunity. We want you to get involved as you take authority
[00:50:36] seriously. And finally, here's how we make disciples. We take the assignment personally.
[00:50:42] We stop waiting on the professionals to do it. We stop waiting on the teaching team to do all the heavy lifting. Oh, we love what we do, but I'm just saying, we like doing it with you.
[00:50:54] You're on the team with us. We're on the team with you. We take the assignment personally.
[00:51:00] There's a concept here on our teams at New Spring Church, at all of our campuses.
[00:51:06] we don't point our finger at somebody else and say you dropped the ball or you should have done that or here's a phrase we as Americans like to use a lot somebody ought to do something about
[00:51:18] that uh-uh what we say here on our teams is it's my responsibility so instead of me complaining about what I don't like it's my responsibility to make it better now if you're riding down the
[00:51:31] road and you see a great big pothole in the middle of your street, you're probably saying somebody ought to do something about that. And you're right. And it's not you. You pay taxes. They're supposed to fill that pothole. But when it comes to discipleship, we don't get the ability. We don't
[00:51:48] get the freedom. We don't get the luxury to look around and go, you know what? Somebody ought to do something about that. Somebody ought to invite them to church. Somebody ought to fund that project. Somebody ought to plant more churches. Somebody ought to be reaching these kids these
[00:52:03] days. Guess what? It's my responsibility. It's your responsibility. Y'all, it's our responsibility.
[00:52:10] And when we take it seriously and we take it personally, disciples get made and the needle gets moved and the kingdom grows and the gospel is proclaimed and people are saved. I want to show
[00:52:26] you an example of someone that did this for me in my life. Here's a picture of my pastor. His name is Jake Thornhill. He's on your far left. He's got his arm around me and I'm holding my wife's hand
[00:52:37] and she's got her arm around Miss Patsy. That's Jake's wife. And there's Jacob and Joseph, our kids. This picture was taken a little less than a month ago at our 30th anniversary at Sullivan's, which is my favorite restaurant in Anderson. And we were having a celebration and I asked
[00:52:52] Pastor Jake if he would come, and I asked him if he would pray over my family. That picture means a lot to me. He's got his arm around me, but the first time he put his arm around me, I was 14.
[00:53:02] He was my pastor at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Fountain Inn, and my family had just moved to a new farm, and we started attending that church, and I was spellbound by this man as a preacher.
[00:53:13] He was a great Bible teacher, but he was also a strong evangelistic pastor, and I studied how he gave invitations and I studied how he preached the Bible and I watched and learned how he used
[00:53:23] illustrations and stories and how he landed the plane. And then he invited me to preach for him.
[00:53:28] And I'd been preaching for a couple of years, a year or so at that point. And here's how he discipled me. He took his assignment personally and seriously. He let me preach. And then when
[00:53:39] it was over, he put his arm around me and he walked me back to his office and he said, I loved it and he would encourage me. I loved how you opened your message. I loved how you got to the
[00:53:49] text quickly. I loved how you made eye contact with people. Clayton, that was a home run message.
[00:53:54] I loved how you gave the invitation. And then he, man, he had such good instincts. He said, now, do you want to get better? He didn't say, now, let me show you what you did wrong.
[00:54:05] He didn't say, now, let me correct the mistakes you made. He said, now, do you want to get better?
[00:54:09] Because I know your dad and I know your dad tells you how you can be better. I know you play football. I know your coaches tell you how to get better. Do you want me to tell you how to get
[00:54:17] better as a preacher? Yes, Pastor Jake, I do. And then like a laser focused beam, he would hone in on those small little things. And that man discipled me and trained me and taught me.
[00:54:31] And he took that assignment personally. And now he's still my pastor. He's retired. He's got some health issues. He texted me this week when I told him I was going to bring him up and show that
[00:54:41] picture in the message. He said, Clayton, would you do me one of the biggest favors I could ever ask of you? He said, I don't know how much longer I've got left in this life, but when that day
[00:54:50] comes and Jesus calls me home, would you please come and preach my home going ceremony? And I can't, I hope that day's not soon. I hope Jesus comes back before then, but what an honor for me
[00:55:01] on at some point in the future, if the Lord tarries to be able to preach my rabbi's funeral, you can make disciples. You must, you must do it. It's not as hard as you think.
[00:55:18] You can pray with people. You can read the Bible with people. You can get in a group with people.
[00:55:26] You can have people at your home. You can have a cup of coffee with a coworker and talk about spiritual things. You got to eat lunch every day, eat with somebody. You got to drink coffee every
[00:55:38] day, don't you? Don't you? If you haven't tried it, I suggest it. Drink coffee with people.
[00:55:46] Discipleship is living life in close proximity with others. And listen, you don't have to do a 12-month Bible study through the book of Romans. Just sit with people, live with people, talk with people, get in a group with friends, do it together. Discipleship is what happens.
[00:56:07] naturally when we live our lives together and we share our brokenness and we share our struggles and we confess our sins to each other and we just grow together. You can do this. You must do this.
[00:56:22] So let me ask you a question. How did we get from 33 AD to 2025 AD? Because in 33 AD, there were a couple of thousand Christians in Jerusalem. I mean, we don't know exactly how many. We know
[00:56:35] there were 3,000 that were saved in one day. How do we get from several thousand believers to now on our earth, 2.6 billion Christians, about a third of our planetary population. How do we do
[00:56:48] that? We made disciples. The church preached the gospel and taught the scriptures. We live together, work together, eat together, suffer together, grow together, worship together, learn together, change together. We lock arms with Jesus and we're in a co-mission with God. And my prayer is that
[00:57:15] before Jesus comes back, that 2.6 billion number will be doubled, tripled. How does that happen?
[00:57:24] By making disciples. So I close with two questions for you. Are you making disciples? Are you making disciples? Are you actively involved in pursuing others in discipleship relationships, reading the Bible together, praying together, being in a group together, worshiping side by side? Are
[00:57:46] you making disciples? And if you are, praise God. If not, I want to encourage you during our response time in a minute, just pray for God to give you a name of someone you can begin to pour
[00:57:56] into, of someone you can begin to talk to, of a group you can join, of a class you can sign up for.
[00:58:00] just begin to pray and take that first step into making disciples. But the second question that I want to ask is a little more poignant. Are you a disciple? Are you a disciple? We have thousands
[00:58:16] and thousands of people that join us on Sundays. And as an evangelist, I'm always mindful that there might be one in the room, your campus, this room, that's not a disciple yet. And maybe today
[00:58:30] during the preaching of God's word or during the worship time, or because of a conversation you have this week, you are ready to make a decision right now to begin a discipleship journey with Jesus. You've got to become a Christian before you can become a disciple because they really
[00:58:43] are the same thing. So maybe today you want to begin your life as a follower of Jesus, a disciple of Jesus Christ. And here's how it starts. I'm going to tell you simply, you just ask, you repent of your sin. You believe in your heart that Jesus is raised from the dead.
[00:58:59] You invite him to take control of your life. That is how you begin the life of a disciple.
[00:59:04] You've got to make a decision.
[00:59:06] There is no discipleship without a decision.
[00:59:09] And that decision of giving Jesus control of your life leads to a life of discipleship.
[00:59:15] And if you're ready to make that decision today or if you need to make that decision today, I would like for you to make it right now.
[00:59:21] You can.
[00:59:23] You must.
[00:59:25] Your soul depends on it.
[00:59:27] So would you close your eyes and open your hearts with me at every campus?
[00:59:32] If you need to give your life to Christ for real and you are ready to become a Christian, pray this to him in your heart.
[00:59:42] If you mean it, if you believe it's true, just pray this to Jesus because he is listening to you and he loves you.
[00:59:54] Jesus, I wanna follow you.
[00:59:59] I wanna be your disciple.
[01:00:03] So I give you my life.
[01:00:08] Please forgive me of all of my sin.
[01:00:11] I wanna know you.
[01:00:16] So I ask you to save me.
[01:00:18] thank you for loving me Jesus now help me be your disciple would you just keep your eyes closed I just want to ask I'm not going to count I'm not going to make a big deal out of it but it is a big
[01:00:41] deal whether I make it or not if you just prayed that prayer to Jesus Christ I'm going to ask you to do something simply I want you to do it immediately would you raise your hand if you
[01:00:52] just prayed that prayer to Jesus Christ and you meant what you said? At every campus, would you raise your hand straight up above your head right now, just as an indication that you have taken a
[01:01:04] first step, you have made a decision. Just raise it up. I said I wasn't going to count, but I can't help. I can't help myself. Put your hands down. Everybody go ahead and open your eyes. I have
[01:01:22] no idea how many people made that decision at other campuses, but about 22 people in this room just indicated that you have made a decision now from what I could see.
[01:01:35] And we wanna rejoice in that decision because that's what disciples do.
[01:01:40] So I'm gonna ask you to stand up on your feet at every location right now.
[01:01:43] And I'm gonna invite our ministry teams to come forward.
[01:01:47] And as our ministry teams are coming forward, there's another decision I'm gonna ask you to make before we move into response time.
[01:01:54] If you just prayed to receive Christ, you've made a decision.
[01:02:00] now, we want you to actually take a step. So at your campus, there's a cross in your room.
[01:02:07] Here in this room, it's up toward the front. Locate that cross or one of our ministry team members. And when we begin to sing, take communion, why don't you move and just go to somebody and
[01:02:18] say, I just pray to receive Christ. Let us help you take your next step to being a disciple.
[01:02:24] And if you're not making disciples and you're a Christian and you'd like to, how about you step out of your seat and go find one of our ministry team members and tell them i'm ready to get serious about making disciples and let them pray with you and then we'll help
[01:02:37] you identify someone or a group or a class you can be a part of to do that lord we want to thank you for the way that you are moving in our church and we give you the glory for it for everyone that
[01:02:48] just made a decision to begin following you i pray they would move immediately when we when we begin to respond. And for the rest of us, help us to take this responsibility seriously as we work with you to make disciples in Jesus' name. Amen.

[01:03:16] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[01:03:16] That was amazing seeing so many people respond. Just as we enter this time, if you're going to be making your way, if you want to take communion, if you need prayer for us, it's on the side of the room up here and up top and just the cross down front. If you raised your
[01:03:29] hand and you want to come talk to somebody, we'd encourage you to do that. And we'll start singing

[01:03:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[01:03:33] in a minute. Sing with me. To follow Jesus. I've decided to follow Jesus. No turning back.
[01:05:52] No turning back. Sing that again. I have decided. I've decided to follow Jesus. I have decided to follow jesus i've decided to follow jesus no turning back no turning seeing the cross before me cross before me the world behind me the cross before me the world behind me the cross before
[01:06:46] me the world behind no turning back turning decided to follow jesus i have decided to follow jesus i've decided to follow jesus no turning back

[01:07:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[01:07:25] No turning back Sing, though none go with me, still I will follow

[01:07:31] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[01:07:31] Though none go with me, still I will follow Though none go with me, I still will follow No turning back

[01:07:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[01:07:59] Sing, I've decided, one more time, this is our declaration

[01:08:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[01:08:02] I've decided to follow Jesus.
[01:08:10] I have decided to follow Jesus.
[01:08:17] I've decided to follow Jesus.
[01:08:23] No turning back.

[01:08:54] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[01:08:54] Come on, sing He's Worthy.

[01:08:56] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[01:08:56] Worthy of every song we could ever sing.
[01:09:06] Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring.
[01:09:09] worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live for you jesus jesus the name above every other name jesus the only one who could ever say worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
[01:09:43] Live for you, only you.
[01:09:49] Sing, he's holy.
[01:09:50] There is no one, there is none beside you.
[01:10:00] Open up my eyes in wonder.
[01:10:05] Show me your heart and lead in your love to those of every soul.
[01:10:29] Build our lives.

[01:12:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[01:12:40] Come on, sing it out.

[01:15:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:15:05] Declaration.
[01:15:06] I'm over here just singing and worshiping and declaring, I will build my life. You know, the act of choice of my own will that God's given me to say and declare, I will build my life. And I love that we open our mouths and declare that
[01:15:24] together as a church family and trusting in the sufficiency of the grace that who we are in him will accomplish his purpose on this earth and in us and in the church. It's a special thing. It's
[01:15:36] a great thing. But you know, sometimes that, how do you actually do that? How do you build your life? How do we do that? And it's not something that you can do by yourself. You know, there's
[01:15:49] a phrase we throw out around here all the time, you can't do life alone. And discipleship is not an easy thing. God pulls us and leads us towards these steps of action in our own lives. And so
[01:16:01] we've been talking for the last couple of weeks about all the different things that are launching in this season, our groups and our classes.
[01:16:07] As you came in, you saw the lobby still with all the colors of all the different options and things that are opened up.
[01:16:12] Clayton, as he's preaching, talks about our evangelism class and groups.
[01:16:16] I wanna nudge a couple of opportunities your way before we dismiss.
[01:16:20] One of them is our ladies groups.
[01:16:21] The women's groups that are in this church are so impactful and powerful.
[01:16:27] And so if you are interested in a ladies group, there's one I know that meets on Thursday nights that is consistent and always going and always open.
[01:16:34] There's so many others.
[01:16:35] I know Jennifer Garrett has been teaching as part of the group that she's been leading for 20 years in this church.
[01:16:40] And it's going to be ramping back up here on Tuesday mornings in several weeks.
[01:16:44] So if you're interested, ladies, in any of the options that we have for you for these groups, stop by the green table on your way out and ask some questions there.
[01:16:51] But I also have a really good friend of mine.
[01:16:53] He and his wife, this is Joe Sangle.
[01:16:55] Joe and his wife, Jen, have been a part of New Spring Church since the very beginning.
[01:17:00] And Joe and myself, welcome, Joe.
[01:17:04] Fired up.
[01:17:05] An opportunity that I, the reason I wanted Joe to come out, number one, so you can see this guy and know that he and his wife have been a part of New Spring Anderson campus for over 25 years now.
[01:17:15] Love this dude. He and I and another friend of ours, Josh, we deer hunt together every year. And so just in a few weeks, we're going to be doing that, Joe. Can't wait. We're going to be doing
[01:17:23] that. But Joe also travels the country and teaches on personal finances, is going to be back with us one week from today on Sunday night. So I want to give Joe a chance just to share
[01:17:35] why you guys should come to the financial learning experience event that he's going to be teaching

[01:17:38] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:17:38] for us. Well, thanks Jason. And fired up to be here this morning, new spring. Here's what I know is money is a challenge for all of us. Uh, whether we don't have any, we're trying to find some or
[01:17:49] whether we're trying to keep some, but I know this, none of us buy the book, how to be broke in three easy steps. And so we're going to have a time together next Sunday night on how to apply
[01:18:00] God's word to our finances with a bunch of practical ways to apply it. We're going to talk about budgeting. We're going to talk about saving, how to manage money in inflationary times, how to get rid of unwanted debt. We're even going to talk about investing and retirement. I might even
[01:18:13] include a few bad dad jokes. Like I woke up really, I had a nightmare last night. I thought I was a muffler on a car, Jason. I woke up exhausted. No, it's a bad joke. So, hey, I know
[01:18:26] it's a bad joke, but I encourage you to sign up. You can sign up FLE 30303. I'm going to be out here at the yellow table. If you have any questions about it, we're going to give you access to over
[01:18:37] a hundred free financial tools as well. We want you to be able to win with money God's way. And I'm, it's an honor to be back at my home church teaching it next Sunday night. Get fired up

[01:18:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:18:47] everybody. Thank you, Joe. I love that. Joe, he really does have a way. If you like you, you walk into something like a financial learning experience event and you go, I'm not sure if I can do this.
[01:19:02] And you leave after sitting under Joe's teaching for a while and go, I can do this. I can do this.
[01:19:08] And so church, you can do this when it comes to budgeting, be here. Here's, here's, I'll tell you how to sign up. But, but the reason we want you to sign up for this is because we want to feed you
[01:19:17] dinner. We want to take away excuses. We want to take away any reason that you may, the enemy may speak this. We can go, ah, you don't need to go to that thing. Come to the thing. It starts at
[01:19:25] five o'clock with dinner. We need to know that you're coming so that we know to buy you dinner. So the way for you to let us know by RSVP is texting FLE to 30303 like Joe said. Get
[01:19:36] here at five, eat for a half an hour, 530 it begins. And it's going to be a great time next Sunday night. We hope you can join us and check out all the other opportunities for us in
[01:19:47] the lobby on your way out. And I want to bless us with a, send us out with this blessing today. So church, as we dismiss. Now, I send you out in the power of the Spirit to equip the saints, entrusting men and
[01:20:02] women with the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ, to share the love of Christ with the lost, and to serve as Christ served. Christ has no body but yours, no
[01:20:12] hands, no feet on earth but yours. You are empowered by the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. We love you guys. We'll see you next week.