Mike Bickle emphasizes the importance of being a spiritual family that actively participates in God's mission of building the church and making disciples. He encourages believers to reflect on their purpose within the church and to foster a sense of belonging and commitment to one another, highlighting that true discipleship involves teaching and living out the teachings of Jesus. Bickle asserts that the church is called to walk in victory over darkness and to embody the love and fatherhood of God, creating an environment where all members feel valued and connected. He challenges the notion of entitlement in belonging, urging individuals to contribute to the community and support others in their spiritual journeys. Ultimately, he calls for a collective commitment to discipleship and the building of a vibrant church that reflects God's glory.

In January, myself and my wife, we go away and spend a few weeks in Florida together. And at that time, it's a really good opportunity for me to have long conversations with the Lord about what am I doing and why am I doing what I'm doing? And Lord, what are you doing? And what are you doing here? What are you doing there? And so it just happens at that time. It happens to be the first of the year. I like to review and ask questions over and over again. I mean, the same questions of previous years. And so I'm going to ask you, what are you doing here? Why are you in Kansas City? Why are you a part of the Bible school? A part of the IHOP staff? Why are you a part of this spiritual family here? What's the Holy Spirit doing here? What's the Holy Spirit doing in the earth? What's he emphasizing? What does he want you to focus on in this season of your life? What does he want you to be prepared to do? Those are very important questions. Well, in the most general sense, the answers are not confusing at all, because two of the most well-known passages in the Bible from the lips of Jesus, they give us the understanding and the information. Now, these passages are very, very well-known, but they're not always fully embraced and walked out. And as a spiritual family, I'm saying, Holy Spirit, help us to walk these things out in an intentional way with a focus, because we want to be doing what you're doing in our midst. While you're here in this city, and then when you're back home in another city, those of you that are students, ask the same question again. Paragraph A. There's two things that Jesus said very, very clearly. He says, I'm building my church. That's what he's doing. He's building a church. Then he exhorted us to do something. Now, in some ways, we're building the church with him, but he says, no, no, I'm doing it. I'm inspiring people. I'm aligning people. I'm releasing different callings and assignments. I'm building my church. But he goes, as for you, though we're building it with him in that secondary sense, but in a very real way, but he goes, I want you to focus on making disciples. Therefore, the primary calling of every ministry is to work together with other believers. Now, not just believers in our midst. We're to work together with all the born-again believers that the Lord helps us to connect with, both locally and abroad. And together, we build the church and the geographic area where God's put us. And together, we engage in the great commission and we make disciples. Now, one thing we can be sure of that these two mandates are going to succeed. Jesus is returning in the sky in fire. He's returning to a fully mature functioning church. He's returning to a church that has successfully made disciples of hundreds of millions of people plus around the nations of the earth. So the discipleship mandate will succeed and the building of the church will succeed. But today, when I look at the landscape of the church today, I say, Lord, there's a lot of change that has to happen because it's, we're not talking about building gatherings on Sunday morning where 10 or 20,000 people come. That's not necessarily the same thing as Jesus building a church. I'm not talking about building a large gathering of people in a building. I'm talking about Jesus building a New Testament church that functions as a spiritual family. Roman numeral two, the commitment to the church. Jesus is committed to the church and Jesus is committed to discipleship. And so as believers who love Him, we are committed to the church and we are committed to making disciples because He is. If He is, we are because we love Him and we want to do what He's doing. So, paragraph A, under Roman numeral two, His primary plan is to build a church that functions as a spiritual family. Now there's many implications to functioning as a spiritual family and that's bigger than our context this evening to go into all those details. But that's His plan. That's the primary thing Jesus is doing in this age. He's building His church in every tribe and tongue of the earth that functions as true disciples functioning together as the family of God. It is your inheritance to be a part of the family of God, but it's more than your inheritance and my inheritance. It's our responsibility to do our part in the local church. It's not only just a blessing and a promise, that actually is a responsibility. And the good news is before the Lord returns, all of His church worldwide will be embracing the mandate, the commitment to build a church and to disciple individuals as well as nations of the earth. Matthew chapter 16, one of Jesus's greatest prophecies that He's going to build a church that walks in victory over Satan and He's going to build a church that walks out the first and second great commandments to love God, to love one another. The reason we know they'll walk out the first and the second commandment is because the church in the New Testament did that and the church in the New Testament was a prototype of what He's going to do at the end of the age, but He's going to go far beyond at the end of the age what He did in the first century. The church will be filled with glory and every tribe and tongue of the earth walking in the spirit of discipleship. Now the church is going to walk in victory over Satan. What a powerful promise. Now to some people the church has gone out of style. They're saying, well, you know, the last 10 or 20 years, you know, people aren't really into the church anymore. Well, I have good news for you. The King of Kings is really into the church. He has not set it aside. That is His building plan in this age. He's allowed certain things to happen, but He's going to correct them and at the end of the story it's going to be a testimony of the glory of God, how He's going to bring a great reversal in the church. Again, the church will, the people of God will be committed to the church and they'll be committed to discipleship. But let's read this amazing prophecy. It says in verse 18, I will build my church. This is a prophecy. And the gates of hell, the gates of Hades, and the gates speak of authority. The authority of hell will not prevail against my people. They will operate in the authority of Jesus. They will have, they'll walk in victory over Satan's temptations to lust, over Satan's attacks of sickness, all kinds of things. The church will actually walk in victory and the gates of hell will not prevail over the church. Then it gives in verse 19, He talks about prayer. He says, I'm going to give you, He's talking to Peter and then through Peter, He's talking to the whole church, not only to Peter. I'm going to give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And with those keys, you're going to be able to open and shut doors of blessing. He goes on and describes the keys. He goes, with these keys, Peter, you'll bind the works of darkness and you will loose or you will release the works of God. That's what He's talking about here in context. But the point I want you to grasp is that the great promise of verse 19, to bind the works of darkness and to release or loose the works of God. The point I want you to get here is in verse 19, we often talk about the glory of that promise, but it's in context to verse 18. It's not just a random promise that independent, isolated believers are going to operate in power. He said, I'm building my church and in that context, my authority will be manifest in the greatest measure. Jesus will manifest His authority most in the context where the people not only enjoy the family of God, but they're committed to it and they build it and they give themselves to it because He's building it, not because man's building it. Now, can you imagine a spiritual family? And I believe this will happen all over the earth. I mean, all over Asia and Africa and Europe and the islands of the earth. Can you imagine a people in whom the enemy has no inroads? I mean, imagine a church family, spiritual family. You know, whether it's two or three hundred, two or three thousand, ten or twenty thousand, it doesn't matter, of which Satan has no inroads into that spiritual family, that the people are walking free from demonic influence. Imagine all the children walking with God, marriages, obeying the Lord and operating under the blessing of the Holy Spirit. That doesn't mean all their circumstances will be easy, but could you imagine a church context of which the gates of hell did not have inroads and oppression and breaking lives and families in the midst of that spiritual family? Well, Jesus was stirring up our holy imagination and our faith saying, that's where I'm going. This is where the church is going and this is where the prayer movement is going, because the prayer movement in the church, in His heart, is one reality. Because Jesus is coming back for a church that has a culture of prayer in it. And we're not talking about 24-7 prayer rooms in every congregation. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about a billion, two billion people dwelling in spiritual families all over the earth, of which a culture of prayer is normative. Now today, it is not normative. Today, disciple, commitment to discipleship is not normative, but beloved, there's going to be a great reversal. Undoubtedly, there'll be some difficulty in that reversal, but there'll be a lot of blessing in it as well. But as for me in my house, I'm saying, Lord, I'm in all the way. I want to be a part of the process that transforms my life, and I want to be a, I want to be a part of the answer, not a part of the problem. I want to be committed to your church and committed to discipleship, not resisting your church and not resisting discipleship. I want to go all the way. And I want to see the glory of Jesus in the midst of folks, people all over the earth, where Satan, his strongholds have been driven out, and people are walking free. Paragraph B, well, Jesus desires that all of his people have a sense of belonging to a spiritual family. Now there's, again, a lot of implications to this, a sense of belonging. And whether you're in our midst for a few months or a few years as a student or an intern, and then you're in another city, you want to enter into the vision that God has, what he's building. I don't mean what men are building, what he's building. And I can assure you what he's building. He's building his church, and he's raising up people that make disciples. That's what he's doing. He's made it very clear. Well, one reason that he wants all of his people, every believer, to have a sense of belonging, because that is their place of safety, and that is their place of spiritual success. You take a believer, no matter how fervent they are, if they don't have a sense of connectedness and belonging to other believers, and I don't mean just a little group of four or five over on the side, but I mean a diverse people of young and old, different races, different ages, different styles. I mean the diversity of the body of Christ. It doesn't take thousands to have that diversity. I'm talking about the diverse expressions of the grace of God in a people that are different educationally, economically, ethnically. They have different passions, different likes and dislikes, but by the grace of God, they have a sense of belonging to one another and belonging to the vision God has for that geographic area. Because all over the earth, well, let's just take our own city, because what's happening here is happening in many, many cities of the earth. Hundreds, thousands of cities. There's about a thousand congregations. I don't really know the number, but somebody said more than a thousand. I'll just say a thousand. Those thousand congregations are all very precious and valuable to the Lord, and every one of those congregations are to operate as a spiritual family with a sense of belonging to their, of their members, but then even a sense of some connectedness to the other congregations. Now a thousand congregations can't all feel connected to a thousand congregations, because it's just no one has enough time for that, but God wants congregations to have deep connections to other ones across cities and regions. Now when some people hear the idea of God wants everyone to have a sense of belonging to a spiritual family, it's very normal, because we're humans, to think, yeah, I have a right to belong. Yeah. What about me? And the Lord's saying, well, that's good, but let's make that question number two. But what about you? Are you doing the sort of thing that helps other people to belong? So this, this glorious reality of people having a sense of belonging isn't just an entitlement. It's not an entitlement. It's actually a responsibility for us to create an environment where others feel pursued, connected, cared for, and valued, but not others that are just like us, that like what we like, that do what we do, but people that are different than us. I'll tell you that, that takes a spiritual vitality to be connected to people who don't like everything you like. Most folks think, you know, I'll get with 10 or 15 people that like the same music, like the same sports, like the same recreation. We're about the same age. We all connect together. That's cool. And there's nothing wrong with that. But the Lord's talking about something more than that, that hanging out with cool people that are like you. What about non-cool people that aren't like you? Well, I'm grateful there's no definition for what cool is, so I'll just leave that out in the open. But as a spiritual father, I'm looking at our congregation. I'm not wanting you thinking, hey, I'm entitled to belong. I'm wanting you to thinking, I'm going to do my part so other people feel like they belong. And it's good for yourself to feel it as well, but I want to take a different approach to this. Paragraph C, Jesus revealed the God of Israel, the transcendent God of Israel. He revealed this glorious, majestic, all-powerful, distant God that was in Israel's mindset. And he said, let me tell you about the God of Israel. Transcendent means real powerful, real mighty, real amazing, you know, infinitely superior. Jesus said, let me talk to you about Him. He is a father. He's not just a king. He's not just powerful. He's actually a father, and He has a deep desire for family. Not just for a family, but a family that functions as a family that cares for others, not just their place in the family. They care for the place of others in the family. Jesus said, that's what my father is like. He thinks like a father. He feels like a father. He acts like a father. Now what He desires is to express His fatherhood through the body of Christ to the geographic area that they're in, like here in South Kansas City. He wants us, but there's a hundred congregations in South Kansas City or more. I don't know the number. He wants all of us in our spiritual families, in our congregations, in a very specific way, and then again some reaching out and connecting one to another. I've got many pastor friends in this city, and I've had them for 30 years, many of them. And I interact with them and meet with them, and we share stories, and we celebrate what's happening in each other's congregations, and each other's ministries, and that's a glorious reality. And a lot of our different leaders have that connection. I was talking to some of our leaders by email and even verbally the other day, and we were calculating the number of leaders that in 15 years at IHOP we have interacted with in a one-on-one way or a one-on-two way. I mean a leader we've had a meal with, or we've had a couple hours of heart-to-heart dialogue fellowship, and by the number of leaders that visit us every week, and the number of leaders that we have out. I mean we have, I don't know the number, but somebody said we probably have 10 or 15 leaders, worship leaders, preachers out every single week somewhere in the nation in another church gathering. And so we added up the numbers, and I got different numbers for different folks, but it was several thousand leaders where we've had one-on-one leadership connection with, with a guy, and a gal, and another guy, and a gal, and they've talked for several hours together. We've had this amazing blessing of connectedness. Some say as small as two, three, four thousand leaders. I mean individual different leaders, and some say five to ten thousand. I don't know, I don't really care what the number is, but I know this, there's a remarkable blessing God has given us in being able to interact and celebrate with the body of Christ far outside the boundaries of this place. And I love the body of Christ. I love the church. Different denominations, different focus, different emphasis. This idea that we only want to be with the folks that are like us. I tell you the body of Christ is so big, so different. I think of leaders that I've met in other nations of the earth, that I've been in their homes, and in their pulpits, and them here. We are so radically different, but it's beautiful. A lot of different theologies, points of emphasis, but the main and the plain realities of who Jesus is, and the authority of his word we all share in common. I tell you it's a glorious way to live. Building the family of God in your midst, and connecting with the larger family of God in your city, and in the nations of the earth, in as much as God gives you the opportunity. Some of you say, well I don't really know any. But you will. Give it time. You'll have plenty of opportunities as years unfold. But here's the point I want to make. God wants our spiritual family to reflect his fatherhood to unbelievers that are watching us. And he wants that same thing in a thousand other congregations in our city. He wants those congregations to be able to reflect his fatherhood by the way that we care for one another. The way we connect with one another. They look at us and they say, surely there is a father that is motivating them. Look at the way that they enjoy one another. The way they value one another. Surely the God that inspires him is not only a king. He must be a father. He must be a father. Well Jesus made it clear in John 13. He goes, people are going to know you are my disciples by the way that you connect with one another. And again this isn't only believers connecting with believers that like the same movies, that like the same sports, that like the same music. We're talking about something far beyond that. That because of his graciousness to us as individuals we see the value of the human spirit to God. I mean it may be the most down and out guy living under the bridge that has no resource, no ability to help you in any way, but he's human. And you see he's human. Therefore he's indescribably valuable to God. And you look at him and say, I don't like the music you like. I don't like the place you sleep. I don't want to spend the night with you under the bridge. I don't like the place you eat. I don't want to eat dinner where you eat dinner at the trash bin. But you know what? I see how valuable you are and I want to hear your story. I want to care about who you are. I care about your pains, your sorrows, your hopes, your dreams. I tell you the man, the homeless man under the bridge has dreams like you do. Exactly like you do. And we see each other through the lens of how the father sees us. And we connect with each other that way. Jesus said you do that. Not just the folks again that like the same music, the same stuff you like. Beyond that you put time and energy. Jesus said unbelievers will say the God that inspires them must be a father. He must be because they don't get anything out of who they're relating to in the natural, meaning they don't get more money. They don't get an open door. Their profile is not enhanced in any way, but they care for that guy. And that guy can't give them anything in the natural. And Jesus said they're grateful as a redeemed human being and they see the value of human beings. Paragraph G, top of page two. Let's look at that. Hebrews chapter 10. Jesus said we're not forsaking the assembly of ourselves as is the manner of some. Again it's popular today to forsake the gathering together as the family of God. Because everyone in the gathering is not interesting to everybody. I'm not interested in them. They're not interesting to me. I don't need to bother with it. The writer of Hebrew said don't forsake the gathering, the regular family gatherings of the people of God. And I tell you there's always a group of people that in the natural you have no connection with by natural likes and dislikes. They aren't the same at all. But he goes I exhort you to exhort one another, to encourage one another. I like the translation that says to encourage one another. This says exhort. You know what to encourage one another means? It means to put courage in their heart by what you say. We're called not just to enjoy each other. I love that part of fellowship. We're called to put courage into people's hearts. And I don't mean just courage that life will get better. Courage to be true in their walk in God to righteousness and obedience. We give them courage to say no to temptation and despair. We give them courage to sacrifice their resource for the sake of others in the kingdom. We give them courage by the word, by our stories, by prophesying to them, by loving on them, by hearing their heart. We put courage into them. The writer of Hebrew said do this all the more. Do it more and more the closer you get to the coming of the Lord because it will be more relevant because the environment of society will be more hostile to the people of God the closer we get to the coming of the Lord. There'll be greater hostility, greater immorality, greater reproach, greater attack, greater betrayal. The closer we get the more hostile it becomes. And therefore the family of God gathering together regularly, valuing people besides just their four or five buddies more than that but saying yes to the pastoral grace. Did you know there's a pastoral grace on every one of our lives? Some of you more than others. But every one of us by virtue of being called to function in the body and to make disciples we actually have a pastoral mandate. We all have some of a partial apart. I mean we have a mandate in a certain measure to care for other people. That's a pastoral mandate. Some folks they only think about if they're happy they got four or five friends and what they're supposed to you know how they can get ahead. And there's nothing wrong with that. But there's more to think about than that. When you're in this room one of your questions is Lord who in this gathering, I don't mean just tonight, can I sow into that would be a blessing to your heart that won't give me anything necessarily? Now if somebody comes up to you tonight and gives you a hug say oh you think I can't give you nothing? I'm one of those guys you're having mercy on. Is that what's going on here? Don't go there. Let's go to Roman number three. The commitment to make disciples. Now this is the final exhortation Jesus gave to his people as a whole. He says in Matthew 28 it's after the resurrection he's come back fully God fully man raised from the dead with a physical resurrected body because I have good news for you all authority has been given to me. I have all authority in heaven and earth. In other words I have the authority to back up what I'm going to tell you to do next. That's what he meant because I can back up what I'm telling you to do. I have all authority in the spirit realm in heaven and I have all authority in earth the earthly realm. I could command angels and demons alike. So here's what I want you to do knowing how much authority I have and that victory is certain is the idea. I want you to go make disciples. Now that's interesting that Jesus connects his position of authority with his exhortation for us to make disciples. Now he said make disciples of the nations. Now the mandate or the commitment to make disciples we disciple individuals and we disciple cities or nations by impacting the different spheres of society with the influence of the kingdom. So a man or a woman that's in the marketplace or the educational system or in the military or in the media and as much as they're proclaiming the ways of God and doing the will of God in that sphere of society they're actually promoting discipleship of that city in that sphere in that little way but it really matters that what they're doing. Now here's what he says in verse 20. He goes now when you make disciples here's the critical phrase because a lot of folks talk about making disciples but here's here's here's critical. Verse 20 teach them to obey everything I command you to obey. He goes I want you to teach you to obey everything. Now the clearest summary of Jesus's teachings of what we're to obey is the Sermon on the Mount. A Beatitudes. He goes now in the marketplace in the educational system and the military in the media wherever you're at in society as well as your home and the one-on-one people that you're discipling or one-on-two or one-on-five whatever the number is it's not enough just to befriend them that's very important to befriend them but it's more than them feeling like you like them and they like you. That is foundational but that's only the beginning. He goes there's more involved than them liking you and them feeling like you like them. I want you to teach them what I put in the bible. Well how much? I want you to teach them to obey all the things all of them and again the clearest place of reference point of reference is the Sermon on the Mount. In the Sermon on the Mount he gives eight Beatitudes that we are to be committed to and promote in our relationships. That's Matthew 5. Then in Matthew 6 he identifies six negatives that we are to resist anger, immorality, not keeping our word, things like that. He identifies six. Resist the temptation to retaliate when someone mistreats you. He identifies six things then that's Matthew 5. Then Matthew 6 he identifies five things we are to do actively. Serve, give money, fast, pray, forgive, bless our enemies, etc. etc. So Matthew 5 and 6 really lays it out really quite clear. Some people have thought of discipleship as mostly communicating to other people I like you and I want you to like me. But beloved there's more to discipleship than that. Though that is very important. I don't minimize that at all. But we're not making disciples if we're not taking a stand for the details of the Sermon on the Mount. And I don't mean every time you meet with someone you give them a sermon. That will go that will wear out real quick. What I mean just in the sensitivity to the Spirit you share your own journey, your own failure, your own steps forward and steps backward as you're trying to keep those eight beatitudes in your life. And in doing that you actually are teaching others as well. So it's not you gather, you plot your Bible, you point your finger at them, you start saying well let me tell you what you need to know. Now I'm going to talk about that. Tell them your failure and your struggle and you'll be teaching them. I look at that Sermon on the Mount. I go Jesus this most of the stuff in the Sermon on the Mount is politically incorrect in a major way in society today. Those eight beatitudes. Some guy commits to those eight beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those that mourn. Blessed are those that are meek, that hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those that endure persecution without retaliating. I mean those are nobody in their flesh wants to do those eight things. So I want to warn you because you already know because you're smart people. Verse 20, all of these things are politically incorrect things. And they make people go bah humbug in various ways. No. How dare you insinuate. Like Jesus could we dial this down a little bit? He goes no. All of my commands are born in love. And all my commands will help them enter into the fullness of their destiny. If you love them, you teach them what I commanded you to teach them. Like oh I just got up to think I like them and I do like them and they just like me. We're going to ruin the whole thing now if I bring Bible verses into the conversation. Paragraph B, a disciple is a fully devoted follower of Jesus. That's what a disciple is. We're devoted. That doesn't mean our follow-through is great. The setting of our heart is real, it's sincere. My follow-through has come up short so much in 40 years. But the reason I have confidence I'm a disciple is that when I fail, I like to call it failure and sign back up to give myself to that thing I failed in. I mean that character trait, that attitude is what I mean. We are devoted followers of Jesus in our character, in the message, our activities. Now I find the most difficult is to be a devoted follower of Jesus in the message. I can privately walk out the eight beatitudes without bothering somebody else with them. And they'll think I'm amazing because I'm easy to get along with. So when I start calling them to the eight beatitudes, oh my, that's like whatever. And we do the activities of Jesus. In other words, the disciples, they did the things Jesus did and they said the things Jesus said. Paragraph C, now when we, I'll say this before I get paragraph C, I want to see us develop a strong culture of discipleship. A strong culture because you can't build the church without making disciples. And if you make disciples by definition of following Jesus, a disciple is a disciplined one. It's a believer that accepts the disciplines of their master. And the master is Jesus. And discipline sounds like a negative word, but discipline seen through the lens of the grace of God is a very, very positive, liberating reality. But I want to see us go from a prayer culture, which we have a prayer culture. And by the way, our prayer culture isn't that strong. I tell that to some leaders, they go, what? That sounds like heresy. You guys are, I go, no, actually we struggle. I mean, we sit in prayer meetings. That's not the same thing as praying. I tell leaders, I go, I'm going to say that negative. I really not. I'm, I am blessed by our community. I love the sincerity, but I'm not, I'm not overwhelmed at our progress. I think our progress, we're going forward. I mean, we've gone from a full blast one to a full blast two. I mean, we've doubled our growth in the spirit of prayer. I love it. I love growing. I feel like we're going forward, but I don't think we've arrived at all. When I tell other leaders, I go, don't think we got this thing down. This thing is, now I don't think there's anything more challenging than developing a culture of prayer. That, that, because it takes your whole being to be involved in that. I mean, you can go to a prayer meeting, but you're not going to have a spirit of prayer in your life. If you check into a prayer meeting, et cetera, and then you have a different lifestyle outside the prayer meeting, that prayer meeting is miserable. I know I've done it both ways. It's been a while, but I have. I remember trying to grow in prayer in my early days and no, it didn't work. But in a culture of discipleship, which is just normative for a New Testament church. I mean, this isn't some radical word. Paragraph C, we're talking about making disciples of Jesus, not disciples of us. Like, uh, some groups that focus on discipleship, they go, well, I've got three or four disciples. And I don't want to make a big point if they said that, but I don't want us to say that kind of stuff. I don't want to say, well, I have four disciples, my disciples, they are my disciples. I've, it's already broken. They have to be disciples of him, loyal to him, not loyal to me, not my disciples, but I'm making disciples that follow him. Paragraph D. Now I'm not giving any big discipleship overview here. There are many approaches to making disciples, many different installments in the process of making a disciple, meaning there's discipleship making in the classroom. Like right now, I'm contributing to discipleship making. Discipleship making is not only one-on-one meetings. That's the most effective, but it's not the only way. There's a little bit of discipleship going on right now. There's a little bit of discipleship going on when Ryan was leading worship, a little bit. There's a little bit of the people on the, on the team being discipled by what he's doing and the choices he's making, the songs that some of you are, there's discipling and praying for one another and fellowship times and one-on-one gatherings, social media, you can be engaged in discipleship. There's all kinds of ways, so don't only think of discipleship as one guy meets with one guy. That, that is really, you know, highly effective. That is if you're teaching them the Bible. Some people do the one-on-one thing and they teach them how to follow the guy, not how to follow Jesus. Another thing in making disciples is that we only contribute a little part in the discipleship process of another, meaning we have Tom over here, hypothetically. I can make an impact, contribute some, and then another guy contributes some, then another guy in another relationship, another setting. It's not like one guy disciples Tom, but there's a multitude of installments, if you will, that's not the best word, but of interactions with other believers where the discipleship process is the culmination of a bunch of things happening, not only one guy. So I'm not talking about you taking some false responsibility where you're going to make this guy the ultimate disciple. That's not what we're talking about, but we're talking about, there's many approaches, and that's not my point here today, but we're talking about intentionally learning how you are to participate in the disciple-making process in your life, in this season of your life, the next season of your life, the other season of your life, because it will look different in different seasons. But what I'm calling you to tonight is saying, I want to be committed to what Jesus is committed to. I want to make disciples. I want to build His church. I want to do this. I don't know how to do it all, but I'm going to say yes to the concept. Top of page three. Well, there's two primary callings that every believer has. I know what your primary calling is, build the church and make disciples. But in context to building the church and making disciples, there are specific assignments. It's all part of building the church, not opposite of building the church. Now, God gives most individuals, probably all individuals, I don't know, all is a big word, but He gives most individuals specific assignments at various seasons of their life that are helping them to build the church and to make disciples. But He not only gives individuals specific assignments, He gives congregations and ministries specific assignments. Now, when He gives a specific assignment, it's not optional because He's the head of the church. And so as an individual, if He calls you like some individuals that are really locked into counseling, others are locked into making an impact to the mothers in their neighborhood, others are touching the people of the marketplace, everyone has different assignments. But again, ministries have specific assignments within the context of their two primary callings. Now, those assignments are individual and unique. They're diverse. There isn't one of you that has the same assignment. Exactly. Now, many of you have the same assignment in a general sense, but it will be diverse in the outworking. The same is true of a ministry. There's thousands of ministries called have a specific assignment in the area of developing a prayer ministry, thousands of them. I mean, the prayer ministries in the earth are exploding. But every one of them looks different from the other. So the diversity is not about superiority. You're not superior because your assignment as an individual is different. You're not inferior or superior. You're just wanting to be faithful. And the same is true with ministries. Every ministry, I'm assuming, has a several specific assignments. I have our assignments here. Here's what we've been called to do by the Lord. Build a 24-hour prayer, a sanctuary of prayer. We are specifically called to call people to the first commandment. Now, everybody is in one sense to call people the first commandment, but the Lord made a point out of it in a supernaturally way. He confirmed it. I want this people to lock into that assignment. Now do it. Well, Lord, everyone else will do it. And many ministries have that assignment, by the way. Thousands, maybe millions, I don't know. But thousands do at least. We have an assignment to raise up forerunner messengers. We have an assignment related to God's purpose in Israel. And we have an assignment related to the praying church. Now again, every, each of these specific assignments, thousands of ministries have these, but they will all look different. Just like thousands of people have a calling like yours, but you're walking it out will look different. Now, when the Lord supernaturally confirms an assignment, I tell our prophetic history. The reason I tell our prophetic history isn't so that people feel special. Some new people feel special because they haven't done it yet. The supernatural dimension is because you need the supernatural confirmation because the assignment is hard. It's hard. It's difficult. The temptation to quit will be intense. So when the Lord gives a supernatural confirmation, it doesn't mean, well, aren't amazing. What it means is, well, it's going to be hard. You better not quit because the Lord made a point out of telling you this is important to it. That people say, man, I wish I had this experience or that. I go, well, then you have the 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 year mandate to walk in it. You have a five minute encounter and a 50 year assignment. Another reason God gives supernatural confirmation because part of discipleship is walking out the assignments. That's the point I'm making individually, but even collectively as families, he gives a supernatural confirmation because the assignment is politically incorrect. Look at a few of the things the Lord has called us to do. And I mentioned them to the Lord, they are politically incorrect. And I think the Lord, I've not heard anything, but says something like, I know, but you said, I love you, Lord. I'll do anything. Okay. I want you to do this. Well, Lord, I will do anything. And many of you have that same spirit. Well, millions do worldwide. Lord, I'll do anything. He goes, well, in that case, I want you to do this. Not only this, but I want this to be an expression of building the church and making disciples. But I, I see it as a great privilege that something is dear to God's heart, even though it's resisted by men, but it's dear to God. What a privilege to give your strength, no matter what kind of resistance it is. If the Lord, if it's dear to the Lord and he went, and this is not the right way to say it, but he went out of his way to tell you it was dear to him by supernaturally confirming it. God never goes out of his way. That's just a, a matter of speech or a, just a phrase you use. Well, paragraph B, we'll just take another minute or two. Our first specific assignment, keep a 24 hour prayer sanctuary. Well, Jesus knows he's returning to a church with this culture of prayer, but the church today across the earth, there's going to be great change before the church has a spirit, a culture of prayer in it. I go, Lord, you're coming back and the whole church will have a culture of prayer. So how are you going to fix that? And part of the answer is the Lord's going to give a specific assignment to thousands of ministries to focus on prayer. Thousands. I mean, this is the most remarkable fact that I was told by some pretty smart guys that do the numbers. In 1984, a group of guys real committed to prayer searched out all the prayer ministries in the world. They could locate 1984, 30 years ago, 24 seven prayer ministries. I've done about a person in a prayer room. Every hour, a new guy comes in and takes it for an hour. Then another comes in. They searched the world. I'm sure they missed a few 1984. They found 25 and they were totally encouraged. Mind-blowing 25, 24 hour prayer rooms. They could identify the earth 30 years later, there's over 10,000, 24 hour prayer rooms in the earth. Now they don't all have worship teams. That's not my point. Many of the worship elements happening all around the earth, 10,000. The Lord says, there are 10,000 I've given that assignment to, to raise up a 24 hour prayer room. And I, he may give it to a hundred thousand, but he wants to touch a billion. He said, will you bear that? I remember we announced this 15 years ago. Why would you sit in a prayer room and all that wasted time? And I mean, just as backlash of energy of how could you, why would you, how dare you, how everything you, it just went on and on. I said, Lord, he said, Hey, I'm leading the prayer movement. I made it clear to you that I want you to do this. Now, will you do it? You said you'd do anything. And again, it's the same thing with all of you. And it didn't have to be this assignment. It could be another one. Yes. It says, let's just do it. Yeah. But they say, how about, how about, how dare, what about this? Yeah, but I'm the one that tells you to do it. You and me will talk. They won't be part of that conversation. We talk at the end. You're fine. Just do it. I go, that's politically incorrect. It bugs a lot of people. How many of you know the prayer mandate bugs people? How many of you know anybody bugged by the prayer mandate? Raise your hand. A lot of people are bugged by it. Well, paragraph C, then a little bit time went by and he said, now I want you to call people in a real focused way. I mean, everyone does this in a, in a general way, but there are thousands of ministries in a real focused way. I want you to call them to the first commandment and I want you to reveal my tender heart towards them as a bridegroom God. I want you to talk about it all the time, everywhere you go. So I thought it was pretty cool at first. What about the second commandment? Well, of course, if you do the first commandment, you gotta do the second. What about, what about, how dare you? Oh my goodness. I thought people would love that one. Lord. He says, well, you know, again, I didn't have this conversation, but you know, it's in the Bible, this part and the generation I returned the nations are going to be filled with immorality. They're going to be filled with bitterness and despair. They need to know how I feel about them. Would you just make that point over and over and over? Tell them about my heart as a bridegroom. Just do it. I know where society's going. I love my people and there's thousands of people with that mandate. I reminded the Lord that I was the son of a champion boxer. My dad was a boxer. I said, I can't do the bride of Christ. I'm a boxer. No, I didn't do very good myself. I chose football. My dad said football, that's a wimpy sport. Anyway, that's another subject for another day. But the Lord says, I want to fascinate my people with my heart and my tenderness and my delight in them. I want to give them hope. I want to break despair off. Tell them this part. I'm not just a king with power. I'm a bridegroom with desire. Would you say that? Because I'm giving this mandate to thousands. Society's going to need this. Well, then a little few years go by, starts talking paragraph D about the forerunner message. Now, you know, there's 150 chapters in the Bible, actually more. We have it on the internet. 150 chapters in the Bible of which the primary subject is the end times. Here's the reason. There's one generation of history where the dynamics are so intense, positive and negative, that the Bible talks more about that one generation than any other generation. 150 chapters of the Bible. Lord says, uh, makes it really clear, confirms it supernaturally, so we can't quit is the point. He doesn't confirm it so you feel special. He confirms it so you don't quit. Because the Lord would say, do you realize there's going to be so many offended people, so many confused people, so many deceived people, so many fearful people. But if you make known what I have to say in these 150 chapters, I don't mean just me, but he's given this mandate again to thousands of people around the world. It will cause them instead of fear to have peace. Instead of being deceived, I'll have clarity. Instead of offended, they will trust me. Will you do that? And I don't know. Nobody knows when the Lord's returning. I mean, it's my opinion. It's not a prophecy, not a revelation. It's an opinion from the signs of the times of the lips of Jesus. It's my opinion that we're in the early days of that generation. Of course, a biblical generation can be as short as 40 years or as long as 100 years. I don't even know if we're in that generation. It's an opinion. I look at the signs of the times. They're all, not all, most of them are escalating on a global level for the first time of history together. I go, wow, things are picking up. We better know the 150 chapters because people will be easily deceived, offended, fearful, seduced without the knowledge of what you're doing, Lord. And I don't know if I will see it in my lifetime. I really might not. I don't even care. I don't care if it's my children, my grandchildren or their grandchildren or their grandchildren. The point isn't when. The point is we're approaching the season where the 150 chapters need to be made clear to the body of Christ. And if it's a couple generations down the road, it's not too early to focus on those chapters. Because when I was 20 years old, there was very little information given to me by the fathers of the generation before on those chapters, almost nothing on them, on the majority of them. I don't want to hand this to my children or their children or their children. It's time to lock into those chapters now. Even if it's for another generation, two or three generations from now, you do well. It's not too early to start with urgency, getting clear. But I think things are picking up. But it's an opinion, not a prophecy. Bad people say you prophesy. No, it's not a prophecy at all. I'm looking at the signs. They're all emerging. Not all. That's not all. But a lot of them, a global level for the first time in history. And Jesus said in Matthew 24, verse 33, when you see these, you better understand things are, I'm coming soon. What does soon mean? I don't know. But it's not too early to lock into those 150 chapters, start learning them. They're about Jesus. They're not mostly about events. They're about a man and his plan. Well, the most, we'll end with E, the most politically incorrect of all of them is God's purpose for Israel. Then he points out, I was like, ah, Lord, I just want to be nice. I want to like people. You want people to like me. I want life fairly easy. I don't mind a trial here and there. Israel, I mean, Jesus's version, not the Israel version of Israel, because the Jesus version of what's going to happen in Israel doesn't make a lot of folks in Israel happy. Not the Arab version of Israel, not the Western church version of Israel. Jesus is like, ah, that's the worst of all of them. This is what he said. You love me. You would do anything. I just want you to say things about this. Just stay with it. Don't worry about it. You're fine. Anyway, let's stand. I'm going to end with that. I'm way over late.