Episode Transcript
[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to the YA Podcast.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Lean in as we dive into the.
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Practicals of life with Jesus as spirit filled young adults.
All right, welcome back to another episode of the YA Podcast.
This season we're talking about discipleship, the importance of discipleship and how it's transformed our lives. And so we've had the privilege to hear from Pastor Jess, Pastor Thomas, and myself. My name is Alicia, by the way. I didn't introduce myself at the start, but we have also heard from Pastor Levi from the west location.
And today we have one of our incredible young adult leaders, Amy, who is here. Hi, Amy.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: Hi.
[00:01:03] Speaker A: Why don't you introduce yourself?
[00:01:05] Speaker B: Yeah, so my name's Amy. Like Alicia said, I've been going to NUMA since like the end of 2023, start of 24.
And I have a life group out in the southeast.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: People.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: Yes.
Yeah. Should I, like, share a little quick story?
[00:01:24] Speaker A: Of course.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: So I grew up in a Christian household.
My family are wonderful. My parents raised me in the way of the Lord. I had a great relationship with the Lord growing up, went to an amazing church.
But when Covid hit, I walked away from the Lord. And I was away from the Lord for nearly four years.
Got involved in a lot of sin, moved out of home.
And then at the end of 2023, I went to church for the first time in like three and a half years.
And the Lord tugged on my heart and called me back home and here I am.
[00:01:58] Speaker A: And we are so grateful for that.
We get to reap the fruit of your life, which is incredible.
So, Amy, I'm going to ask you a question and you can go as deep as you would like.
[00:02:10] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:02:11] Speaker A: But how has disciples discipleship transformed you?
[00:02:17] Speaker B: Yeah, in so many ways, I would say, particularly since coming back to the Lord, discipleship has been such a huge part of my journey, particularly with, like, spiritual mothers and fathers.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:32] Speaker B: I'm very, very blessed to be mentored by my spiritual mum and dad, Stephen Sell. And they have played some such a big, big part in my walk with the Lord since coming back. And, yeah, they've taught me so much.
[00:02:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:47] Speaker B: And yeah, it's like seriously just such a privilege to like, walk with them and to do life with them and to have them speaking into my life.
Yeah, it's been so transformative.
[00:02:58] Speaker A: So what would you say is the difference between not having spiritual parents and now having them in place?
[00:03:05] Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's like, like, it's obviously like, it's accountability, like having people that I can be accountable to, people who have obviously walked with the Lord, for so much longer than I have, who can speak into my life and I can go to them with questions and struggles, anything like that. Like, we actually, like, purposely set time aside every now and again to actually have discipleship. Set sessions where they speak into my life.
Yeah, it's so good.
[00:03:35] Speaker A: When you say discipleship sessions, what does that look like? Yeah, without going too deep, if you don't want to eat.
[00:03:42] Speaker B: No, it's fine.
So we'll, like, block out time. We'll set time aside. Because I also work for them, so I'm getting, like, natural discipleship just through being at their house all the time and working for them and stuff like that. But, yeah, we'll block it. Block aside, like, specific time where we'll sit down.
Sometimes they'll just like, start by asking me, like, how I'm doing. Is there anything in particular I want to talk about? And then other times they'll have words from the Lord and they'll have things on their heart to just speak directly into.
So, yeah, we'll, like, sit down. We'll go through that. They speak into my life.
Yeah. And just help me out with my journey with the Lord.
[00:04:26] Speaker A: Amazing.
And how has it been for you, stepping into life, group leading, and now being entrusted to disciple people?
How are you finding that?
[00:04:37] Speaker B: I love it. I love it so much. It's been a journey. When I first started, I did not feel equipped.
Like, I just felt like I wasn't ready. I was still, like, fairly new, like, back with the Lord. And I felt like there was so much that I needed to do first before, like, stepping into something like that. But, yeah, like, it's been amazing. And I'm growing myself, like, discipling others, like, because that's what, like, we're living out being a disciple when we are discipling others. So. Yeah.
[00:05:10] Speaker A: Yeah. No, that's awesome.
[00:05:11] Speaker B: Yeah, it's been so good.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: What is discipleship to you? If someone was to come to you and ask you, what is discipleship, what would you say to them? Someone who has no idea what it is.
[00:05:22] Speaker B: I would say that it is a journey where you walk with other people in becoming more Christ. Like, becoming more like Jesus.
[00:05:31] Speaker A: Yeah, that is beautifully put in. Straight to the point, simple. Don't need to complicate it.
And what.
What would you say has been the hardest part of discipleship for you, being discipled?
[00:05:47] Speaker B: You have to.
You have to be ready to submit.
Because that's the role that Steven Sal have in my life is I'm obviously going to them with questions about A number of things, and I have to be ready to actually hear answers that I may not want to hear. Yeah, but, like, that's the role that they have in my life. And I know that they love me so much that they will tell me what I need to hear and not necessarily what I want to hear.
[00:06:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:17] Speaker B: Like, even we had discipleship yesterday, and I had really felt like I really wanted to start serving in church on a Sunday.
So I submitted that to them and I just said, hey, like, this is what I'm feeling. This is what I want to do.
[00:06:33] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:06:34] Speaker B: Yeah. And I got a no.
So. But, like, it was out of love and, like, they're right. I'm already doing a lot and I can't, like, obviously, like, I'm almost at capacity and I can't sacrifice my intimacy with the Lord and my time with the Lord to go do other things. So. Yeah, so that was an answer that I didn't necessarily want to hear. But as a disciple of them and being their spiritual daughter, I have to be ready to kind of hear those answers.
[00:07:03] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:03] Speaker B: Um, yeah, because one thing we were talking about yesterday is submission actually comes from disagreement. Because if I heard what I wanted to hear, that would actually just be agreement.
So, yeah, you have to be ready to hear things that you may not necessarily like or want to hear and having, like a teachable heart as well and actually being able to take that on. Because there's no point, I think, in being discipled by someone and letting people speak into your life if you're not actually going to take on board what they say.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: Yeah, that's true.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome. That reminds me of.
If we look at first Timothy 5:1 and 2, Paul puts it so beautifully. He said, do not rebuke an older man, but encourage him as you would a father. Younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
[00:07:52] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:07:53] Speaker A: I think if we touch on the topic of submission from my own experience being, being discipled by people, I struggled submitting to people younger than me because there was this concept of, oh, no, you have not lived life as long as me, so I can't submit under your leadership because you won't be able to take me to the level I want to be. And obviously the root of that is pride.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:08:16] Speaker A: But I had to be separated from that environment to actually realize that the problem was with me and not my leaders.
[00:08:24] Speaker B: Yeah, 100%.
[00:08:25] Speaker A: And that's a pruning process that the Lord takes us on. But in order for us to be discipleship, we have to be teachable, like you said. Yeah, that's great.
Okay, so you are discipling people in a life group setting.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: What does discipleship look like for you in terms of discipling others? We've spoken about you being discipled, but you now discipling others. What does that look like for you? And I know each individual you'll have to take a different approach to, and maybe you can touch a little bit on that.
[00:08:59] Speaker B: To be honest, I'm still learning.
[00:09:01] Speaker A: I think we all are.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: Yeah. And I just try to be like, very Holy Spirit led, and depending on the scenario, the situation, like, speaking into people's lives, like, yeah, it looks so different for everybody, I guess. But I think one really big thing for me is making sure that I'm actually, like, raw and honest with my life group and not putting on this, like, facade of perfection. Because. Because I think growing up, I struggled a little bit in church because the leaders that I had in front of me, like, they all seemed so perfect. And it wasn't really, like, the culture was just different. And it kind of was this whole. Yeah. Thing of like, oh, if you're a leader, like, you're perfect. And. Or maybe that was just how I was perceiving it at the time. But it put a lot of pressure on me, serving in the church and being a leader in the church to be this perfect person, which is obviously not attainable.
So I think stepping into, like, leading now with my life group is I'm like, guys, I also don't know what I'm doing, but, you know, let's work this out together. And where I can speak into our 100% will and where I can't, then I will take this. That to people high, like, who have more spiritual maturity than me. And I'll get back to you.
[00:10:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:17] Speaker A: I love that.
[00:10:18] Speaker B: It's.
[00:10:19] Speaker A: It's being vulnerable with people you've been entrusted to lead.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: And Shepherd. And it almost breaks the ice and breaks that sort of leader sheep mentality when you're like, I'm just as. I'm growing just as much as you are. I may be a couple of steps ahead of you in certain areas of. Of life, but I don't have all the answers. And then it makes you approachable. It makes you sort of, like, more human to them, if that makes sense. Because they're like, yep, I can just come to you and trust that if you don't have the answers, you'll find it for me, or you will guide Me and direct me to the right person to speak to.
[00:10:58] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:10:59] Speaker A: And that's just the body of Christ. We gotta know our strengths and weaknesses, but also the strengths and weaknesses of those around us.
[00:11:06] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's the thing, like, discipleship can look different with so many different people. Like, you might go to, to one person for a certain area and then another person for a different area. And even like in my life group, like, there are people in my life group that I'm like, oh my gosh, like, I look up to you in this area.
[00:11:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:23] Speaker B: And like, I would come to you for like, guide, like guidance here.
[00:11:27] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, no, that's great.
So we talked about in the first episode about how we ourselves have to make sure that we're positioning ourselves in our daily walk with Christ. That's where. That's the root of discipleship. That's where we start.
You have said that you're being discipled by an incredible couple who I absolutely love as well.
[00:11:50] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:11:51] Speaker A: But did you have to approach them for discipleship because you were like, I want what's on their life, or did they come to you and go, no, we want to take you under our wing and disciple you in this season of your life.
[00:12:03] Speaker B: Yeah. So it actually kind of happened really naturally. I didn't go to them.
They, when I came back to the Lord, they reached out fairly, like, quickly after I'd come back, and they just wanted to go out for coffee with me because they just wanted to hear like, my perspective of walking away from the Lord and just with scenarios that had happened in life while I was away from the Lord. They wanted to hear my perspective on it.
So we'd caught up for coffee and it kind of just went from there. And I remember coming home after hanging out with them for like the first time and I said to my parents, I was like, I literally felt like I was hanging out with Jesus. Like when I was with them, like, it was so, like, yeah, they're amazing. Like, and that's what it should be, right? Like, we should be reflecting Jesus. Yeah, yeah. And then so from there, I think we just kind of started having catch ups every now and again.
And then, like, because we're family friends as well, so my parents are really good friends with them too. So I just saw them like, in life.
[00:13:04] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:05] Speaker B: But then, yeah, I guess at some point along the way there was this commitment where it's like, okay, like, actually we're gonna take you under our wing and we're committed to you, to discipling you, to building you up and to walking life with you.
[00:13:16] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:17] Speaker B: And then that's just grown stronger and stronger and stronger. And yeah. Now I work for them too, so it's really good.
[00:13:24] Speaker A: That's incredible.
I want to ask you a question. Yeah.
And I'm interested to hear your response. So in the past, you said you. When you observed people in leadership, it was to sort of reach this level of perfection that you. You deemed unreachable, basically.
What did you. What happened to change the mindset for you to go, okay, this is me. This is. This is what I can offer.
And it requires a greater reliance on Holy Spirit to get to another level.
[00:14:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:01] Speaker A: And remove yourself from the comparison mindset.
[00:14:04] Speaker B: Oh, it's still something I struggle with. Like, it's something that the Lord's really speaking to me about at the moment is comparison and making sure that I'm not measuring myself on, like, a human scale.
But I think it's honestly just been a process of, like, submitting to the Lord because I've always struggled with, like, striving and like, the. Those sort of mindsets as well. And, like, kind of like my relationship with the Lord coming from works rather than just from what he did for us.
[00:14:32] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: So, yeah, it's just been a process, honestly. And then having this time around, having leaders in my life who are actually modeling, it's okay to not have it all together.
There's a quote that I really love, and it's God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies. The cold.
[00:14:50] Speaker A: Love that.
[00:14:50] Speaker B: Yeah. It's like, one of my favorite quotes. It's so good.
Yeah. So just like, having people actually model that to me.
So school of prophets I'm part of and Gary and Sarah Morgan do that so well. They are just like, guys, we don't have it all together. We're not perfect.
We're not trying to achieve perfection here.
We're just doing what the Lord's asked us to do.
[00:15:13] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:15:13] Speaker B: So I think I've, like. Yeah. Learned that it comes from obedience and just like, stepping out and saying yes to what the Lord's asked us to do. And then he'll take it from there.
[00:15:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I love that. That's amazing.
I think it's such a healthy way of approaching discipleship. Is going one, I don't have it all together, but to what that person's going through or the season of life they're in, it's going to be different to what I mean. And the fruit of their life is going to be different to the fruit of my Life. And I got to be okay with that because otherwise I'm gonna live in a performance mindset. And then it becomes all about you and the fruit that you're producing. And then you start holding onto people when really they should have been let go a long time ago in the best way possible.
And then, yeah, you start making disciples after yourself instead of after Christ. And that's not what we wanna do.
[00:16:09] Speaker B: Yeah, 100%.
[00:16:11] Speaker A: Well, that's awesome.
There was another question I was going to ask you, but I can't remember.
Was there anything else that you would like to share with us?
[00:16:21] Speaker B: I honestly think, like, I'm just so all for, like, get spiritual mums and dads around you. Like, it is so important. I. When I first started coming to Newmar, I didn't really know anyone, so I didn't have, like, friends.
Sounds really sad, but I didn't have, like, friends around me until probably, like, nine or ten months in. In from coming to numa.
So my friends were literally my spiritual mums and dads. So, like, Stephen, Sal, James and Kelly and, like, some other people. And I honestly think it was such a, like, formative part of, like, the journey where I actually had people speaking into me. And, like, I was just surrounded by these, like, mums and dads of the faith.
But I think as well, in that, like, discipleship can also happen naturally, like, with your friendships. And that's why it's so important to surround yourself with the right people. Yeah, yeah. Because, like, it just happens naturally. And, like, the friendships that I have, like, I entrust these people to speak into my life and be like, hey, no, like, you can call me out if you see something that's, you know, not good or anything like that.
[00:17:26] Speaker A: Those are the people that you have those real vulnerable conversations with that you really open yourself up to, and you allow them to then speak into those really hidden areas of your life that you wouldn't just tell anyone.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: And those people are the ones that hopefully last a lifetime, but if not, they're there for a particular season.
[00:17:47] Speaker B: Yeah, 100.
[00:17:48] Speaker A: You just make the most of it.
[00:17:49] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
[00:17:51] Speaker A: But coming back to your start here at Newmar, I think looking at your life now and the fruit of your life and what you're walking into, Those first, what, eight to 10 months where your friends was spiritual covering in terms of mothers and fathers covering you in that way. It was. It was a setup for where you are now. Yeah, definitely. And we get to reap that. Our young adult community gets to reap that, which is Incredible.
But we can't disregard the setup that God has in this particular season because we don't know what the next season has going to be open and open to any form of discipleship that comes.
[00:18:34] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:18:34] Speaker A: Well, before we close off, would you like to pray for our young adults?
[00:18:38] Speaker B: Sure, I'd love to.
[00:18:39] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:40] Speaker B: Cool.
Thank you, Father.
Lord, we just thank youk for this time that we've had together today where we've gotten to talk about discipleship, Lord, and just talk about what it means to fix our eyes on youn and become more Christ, like in our. In our faith journey. Father and Lord, I just pray for our young adults community, Father, I pray that they would have spiritual mums and dads come and surround them, Father. Lord, I just pray, Father, that people would be called out to come and disciple our young adults, Lord, and that through that discipling, Father, that people would just grow, Father, to know more of you, to live out their calling. Father and yeah, we just ask, Lord, that our young adults would be raised up to go out and make disciples of all nations themselves, Lord. Yes, Jesus, we thank you for who you are, Lord. We thank you, Father, that we can come to you just as we are, Father. And that there's no perfection required, Lord. There's no striving required, Lord. And I just declare that over our young adults, Father, I just, yeah, thank you for who they are wherever they're at in their lives and in their faith right now, Lord. They each are just so special and carry such like a wonderful call in their lives. So, yeah, we thank you, Father. Amen.
[00:19:50] Speaker A: Amen.
Amy, we've loved having you join us. Thanks for listening, everyone. We'll see you at the next episode.
[00:19:58] Speaker B: Bye.
