Discipleship Conversations with Ps Levi

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to the YA Podcast. Lean in as we dive into the practicals of life with Jesus as spirit filled young adults. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Well, welcome back everyone, to the YA Podcast season five. We are so excited to be here. We're so excited to have you back listening to this episode and we are super excited, I'm super excited to talk about the topic of discipleship this season. And as we said in the intro, we are inviting young adult and young adult leaders from across the life of NUMA Church who will share their life stories and, and how they've been transformed and how they can impart that to you guys. So I'm super excited to be joined by the one and only Levi. Why don't you say hello? [00:01:07] Speaker A: What's up, ya? [00:01:08] Speaker B: Levi has his own podcast, so he's a veteran at this stuff. [00:01:11] Speaker A: So, hey, I'm only up to episode two at the moment. Episode three is loading. But thank you so much, Jess, for the invite. Such an honor to be here. [00:01:20] Speaker B: It's so good to have you here and I'm excited to hear your story. This guy has such a powerful life and such a powerful testimony of how the Lord has worked through him. But before we get into that deep stuff, why don't you just give us a little introduction? Tell us about yourself, who you are. [00:01:36] Speaker A: All right. [00:01:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:01:38] Speaker A: Okay. So hello, guys. My name is Levi. This is so funny. So, Levi, I'm married to an amazing wife named Vanya. Shout out to my girl Vanya, my wifey. I got two boys, Noah and Elijah. Ages. Oh my gosh. They're seven and eight. They're seven and eight years old, but Noah's actually turning nine this year in November. [00:02:07] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:02:09] Speaker A: And I also serve at NUMA Church as operations pastor at the west location as well as the the next gen pasta for the west location. So that's me, guys, in a nutshell. And shout out to all my Filipino fam. I'm a fellow. Shout out to all the fellows. What up? What up? [00:02:31] Speaker C: We love that. [00:02:32] Speaker B: So good. [00:02:33] Speaker C: Yeah, thank you. [00:02:34] Speaker B: It's so. It's so cool, like how you do ministry with your family and with Vanya as well. She's been so pivotal in the West. So we love that. So let's get straight into it. We are talking about discipleship, as I said. And I want to ask you the question question. And you can answer this however you like, Levi. But I want to ask you the question. How has your life been transformed because of people that have discipled you and because of the discipleship that you've received? [00:03:00] Speaker A: How has my Life been transformed. What a great question. I feel like there's so many layers to this, but if there's any, if, if there is one key or a couple key takeaways that I would say from. From transformation of discipleship, it's just me knowing, number one, my identity in Christ, I think that was massive for me in my discipleship journey and along with that, as well as my purpose in Christ. So those two were massive in my discipleship journey. But also, I understand that for me, anyway, I'm not where I want to be, but I know I'm, well, far from where I used to be. [00:03:47] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:03:48] Speaker A: And so for me, I. I just pray that, you know, in this journey and it's. It's always going to be a journey we've never arrived. But I just pray that, you know, from years ago that I'm more like Christ than I was. [00:04:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:04:01] Speaker A: 10 years ago, 15 years ago. Because that's the heart of discipleship. [00:04:04] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:04:04] Speaker A: To be more like Jesus. So. [00:04:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:04:06] Speaker A: Yeah. But if there's anything, if there's key takeaways, is that just knowing my identity in Christ and knowing my purpose as well. [00:04:15] Speaker B: So. [00:04:16] Speaker C: Good. [00:04:16] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:17] Speaker C: That's awesome. [00:04:18] Speaker B: So can you share a little bit about, like, sort of where you began and then, you know, as you said, we never arrive and we don't get there until we meet Jesus face to face. But even how you have grown over those years and where you came from. [00:04:35] Speaker A: So how we started discipleship. Is that the first question? [00:04:39] Speaker B: Yeah, let's go there. [00:04:41] Speaker A: Okay. Well, I've had many guys disciple me. Many, many people speak into my life. But if there's one key person, it would be Pastor Dave. He was the west location pastor. And I'll give you guys just a little bit of story, a funny story. So this was when we were still called Bridge Church and we, we didn't have locations back then. [00:05:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:05:09] Speaker A: Okay. There was no west location back then. [00:05:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:05:11] Speaker A: And so I used to be. I used to come to Richmond. [00:05:15] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:05:15] Speaker A: So I'm OG City Campus, guys. I'm OG City Campus. [00:05:18] Speaker B: Yes, you are. [00:05:20] Speaker A: So they used to do this thing called, like, Zone welcome parties. [00:05:25] Speaker B: Yes, I remember that. [00:05:27] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Zone welcome party. So they did one in the west. Because I live in the West. Right. [00:05:31] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:05:32] Speaker A: And so they had Pastor Bob there, shout out to Pastor Bob and obviously Pastor Dave there as well. And we were doing this west location party. Our west location party. West welcome party. And I met Pastor Dave, and at that time, I didn't know he was a pastor yet. Yeah, yeah. So we're just chatting. Right. And undercover pastor. He was an undercover pastor. And I just remember just, you know, hanging out with him, chatting, having a laugh. And, guys, I'm gonna just show you how much of a red flag I am, by the way. [00:06:06] Speaker B: So. [00:06:06] Speaker A: So he asked me, like, what do I do for work? And. And. And one of the things I said was, I was a carpenter at the time. [00:06:12] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:06:13] Speaker A: I was a tradie shout out to all the tradies. I said, I'm a carpenter. Like, Jesus. [00:06:20] Speaker B: Correct response. [00:06:21] Speaker A: So. So I. You know, we were just joking around, and he goes, but what do you want to do? And I told him that I want to get paid to preach the gospel. And looking back, I'm like, oh, my gosh. Why did I even say that? You know, if I heard that today, if someone said that to me today, oh, my gosh. Anyways, red flag. Red flag. Anyways. But I'm like, hey, so what do you do? And he's like, I'm a pastor. I'm like, what? [00:06:48] Speaker B: Are you serious? [00:06:49] Speaker A: And so we kind of. We connected and we got each other's details, and I actually invited him out to Santuro's. I'm like, hey, bro, let's catch up. And I asked him to actually speak into my life. I asked him to. To disciple me. [00:07:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:07:05] Speaker B: So you initiated. [00:07:06] Speaker A: I initiated it. And I think that's so important because it's. I feel like when it comes to this journey, I feel like the mentee has to be more hungrier than the mentor. [00:07:17] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:07:18] Speaker A: Because it's. It's initiative. Like, you want to grow, so you got to show that you're the hungrier one. [00:07:23] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:07:24] Speaker A: Anyways, so I asked him to speak into my life because I knew at that point I. I felt like, okay, I've got. I feel like I knew what my calling was. I kind of knew my identity in Christ, but I needed guidance, and I needed to operate under covering. [00:07:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:07:44] Speaker A: And that is so important. And so I asked him to speak. Speak over my life. And that was. And the rest was history. And so he's been discipleship. He's been. He's been leading me and mentoring me for the last seven years. [00:07:56] Speaker C: Wow. [00:07:56] Speaker A: And. And in that, there's been a lot of encouragement. He's the amount of encouragement that he's just given me, but also the amount of correction that he's given. Yeah. [00:08:06] Speaker B: Come on. [00:08:07] Speaker A: The amount of re rebuke that he's given me. [00:08:09] Speaker B: Go there. [00:08:11] Speaker A: You know, and just the amount of feedback. But I'm thankful for those because it shaped me to. It shaped me who I am today. So in a nutshell, that's kind of been my journey. And I would say that, you know, the one thing that really made it impactful for me is the fact that we actually, me and Pastor Dave, we did life together. [00:08:34] Speaker C: Yeah, great. [00:08:35] Speaker A: You know, we actually did life on life. We. We chatted things. That's not just Christian stuff, Christian topics. We didn't just chat about the Bible or anything like that, but we chatted about sports. We chatted about food. We chatted about so many things. We actually did life together. He knew my family, I knew his family. We hanged out outside of church events or church schedules. We did life together just the way Jesus did life with his followers. And so. And just watching his example, you know, and the fruits that. That I've seen in his life, you know, and that being imparted to me. And so, yeah, so that's kind of been my discipleship journey. [00:09:17] Speaker B: That's so good, because it. What you're then seeing is not just how to perform as a Christian or how someone operates on a Sunday or hearing, you know, a curated message, which is great. But you're also just seeing how he lived his life. Life. And I know Pastor Dave Fuentes, like, he. He lives his life with such a. Such an awareness of people. He loves people. Whether he's on the clock, off the clock. You know, he. He really does serve people. So I can see how that would have brought such an impact. [00:09:49] Speaker A: Oh, 100. And. And I think it's one of those things where, because we did life together. [00:09:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:09:55] Speaker A: He was able to, you know, really shepherd me. Well. Yeah, he knew my context. He knew. He knew what I was struggling with. [00:10:05] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:06] Speaker A: He knew my weaknesses, but he also knew my strengths. And he encouraged that. You know, he. He cheered that on. He championed that. He knew. Yeah. So he. He knew a lot of that. And so when he spoke to me, it. It was weighty because he knew my context. [00:10:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:21] Speaker A: You know what I mean? So. Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:10:24] Speaker B: It carries a lot more weight when people actually know you. So it's like thinking about, you know, when our biological parents speak into our life versus, you know, someone that we have distant relationship with. It's like. It kind of hurts more. [00:10:36] Speaker A: Like the words that they say things. [00:10:38] Speaker B: A little bit deeper because they know they. They've seen you. [00:10:40] Speaker A: That's right. [00:10:41] Speaker B: Grow up. They've been on that journey with you. [00:10:43] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:44] Speaker B: It reminds me of first Thessalonians, too. I love to quote this go passage on. I mean, for me, this is discipleship in a nutshell. Paul says. And Paul, Silas and Timothy all wrote this, but they talk about preaching the Gospel. And it says in 2, verse 8, that we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives because you have become dear to us. And I just love that, that that's how you receive discipleship. Not just the gospel, not just the Word, which is so important, obviously, but also him imparting his life to you. And that's so like, that's a biblical model of discipleship. [00:11:29] Speaker A: Yeah. No, I love it. And I think it's. Again, it's so important. I mentioned it just briefly before, but when. When you invite someone for the YAs out there listening, when you invite someone to. To speak into your life, let them fully speak into your life. [00:11:44] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:11:45] Speaker A: Okay. You know, it's not just the encouragement and the championing and that is. It has its place. And I think that's very important as well. You know, there's life and death in the power of tongue. And if someone's always speaking life to you, I don't know about you, Jess, but if someone speaks life to me and someone speaks encouragement to me, all of a sudden I'm six foot six. [00:12:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:06] Speaker A: You know, all of a sudden I'm taller. [00:12:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:12:08] Speaker A: You know what I mean? I'm stronger. Come on. [00:12:10] Speaker B: I can tackle these giants. [00:12:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:12:12] Speaker A: But at the same time it's like, hey, learn how to receive the correction as well. Learn how to receive the rebuke if you do something wrong. Learn how to receive the feedback. Because we all have blind spots. [00:12:24] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:12:25] Speaker A: We all have blind spots. And I think that's so important as well. And I think that's really one of. One of. One of the benefits of having someone disciple you or cover you is because they can see you. Blind spots. [00:12:38] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:12:39] Speaker A: And they can point it out. And then that way you're more aware and you're self aware of yourself as well. So. Yeah. Receive those feedbacks as well because they're. They're done with love. [00:12:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:12:50] Speaker A: I just remember, you know, when Jesus. Jesus disciples us or disciplines us because he loves us. And although it may hurt. [00:12:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:12:58] Speaker A: For a short time, it's actually beneficial in the long run. [00:13:02] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:02] Speaker B: It's like pruning. [00:13:03] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:03] Speaker B: Like John 15, we talks about pruning. It's a. It's painful in the moment, but what it does is actually produces more fruit. [00:13:09] Speaker A: That's right. So good. [00:13:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:11] Speaker B: So how did you, like, how were you the sort of person that could receive that kind of feedback. How did you even prepare your own heart in humility to allow Pastor Dave to speak into your life? Is there anything that you can share on that? [00:13:27] Speaker A: I think for me, how I received it. Well, to be honest, when I first received the feedback, whether it was from past Dave or from anyone, just my first time, I was hurt. Like, you know, I, that, that stings, man. [00:13:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:44] Speaker A: I don't want to talk to you anymore. I want you to encourage me, man. [00:13:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:49] Speaker A: Not give me feedback. Nah, I'm just kidding. But, like, it did hurt. But I think for me, at that time in my life, I didn't really know my identity. You know, I, I place my identity in what I did. So when they gave me a feedback on the, on what I did. [00:14:08] Speaker B: Right. [00:14:09] Speaker A: It felt personal. [00:14:10] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:11] Speaker A: Because my identity was attached to that. [00:14:13] Speaker C: Okay. [00:14:13] Speaker A: Does that make sense? [00:14:14] Speaker C: Yeah, that does. [00:14:15] Speaker B: That makes a lot of sense. [00:14:15] Speaker A: You know what I mean? [00:14:16] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:16] Speaker A: But now it's like, okay, let's say I'm, we're doing a service or da, da, da, da. It's what I do, but it's not who I am. [00:14:22] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:23] Speaker A: So when they give me a feedback on a certain. Oh, this happened. [00:14:26] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:26] Speaker A: It's not as personal to me anymore. It's just like, okay, this is the assignment. Okay. I might have, you know, didn't see that it was my oversight. Okay. Now I know what to do next time. [00:14:38] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:38] Speaker A: But at the same time, it's just knowing the fact that you don't have it all together. [00:14:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:45] Speaker A: You know, everyone listening to this, you. [00:14:47] Speaker B: Do not have it all together. [00:14:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:49] Speaker A: Like, I, I, I think it's as well as accepting the fact that, yeah. You don't have it all together. So receive the feedback, man. Like, just calm down. Humble yourself. [00:15:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:15:01] Speaker A: Listen to your pastors. Listen to the one that's mentoring you. Listen to the one that's discipling you. Listen to the one that's covering you, because there are actually for you. [00:15:09] Speaker C: Yes. Great. [00:15:11] Speaker A: You know what I mean? There are actually for you. And I just go back being me, being a dad. You know, my kids don't like it when I discipline them or when I tell them off. [00:15:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:15:19] Speaker A: But I tell them off. I correct them because I care for them. [00:15:22] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:15:23] Speaker A: You know, I correct them because I love them and I don't want them making the same mistakes. [00:15:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:15:28] Speaker A: And so if you look at it that way, it's actually, actually very loving. [00:15:32] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:15:34] Speaker A: I forgot what verse it is now, but maybe DMACC can help us out. I think it's somewhere in Proverbs where it talks about how now we'll, we'll, we'll keep talking and then I'll try to find it, we'll try to find, we'll come back to it. [00:15:48] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. [00:15:50] Speaker A: But, yeah. [00:15:51] Speaker B: So yeah, it sounds like when you build trust with someone, you're allowing them to speak into those spaces. So like. [00:16:01] Speaker A: Correct. [00:16:01] Speaker B: I, I mean, I have this quote that just lives rent free in my head, which is that we need to build bridges strong enough to bear the weight of truth. Relational bridges need to be built. And that's a two way street. So that's both the person that is mentoring, discipling us, building trust with us, but it's also us building trust with them and allowing them into areas of our life, allowing them to speak and even though they're not perfect, recognizing that they have been appointed by God for a position of leadership despite, you know, they might even be younger than you. Sometimes it's that they've got more life experience, but sometimes they're younger than you. Maybe your life group leader or your pastor is younger than you. That's okay. They've been appointed by God. Trust that. And trust that God knows what he's doing. [00:16:47] Speaker A: Yes. [00:16:48] Speaker B: And then also like, we both have to like. [00:16:50] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:51] Speaker B: Build trust. [00:16:52] Speaker A: Yeah. That's so important. I think it's so important to understand, to have grace. [00:16:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:16:56] Speaker A: To your leaders. [00:16:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:57] Speaker A: Cuz they're not perfect. [00:16:58] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:16:59] Speaker A: You know, they make mistakes too. [00:17:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:17:02] Speaker A: And yeah. You just got to show grace to them. I think that's so important. Yeah. That's awesome, Jess. [00:17:08] Speaker C: Yeah, that's great. [00:17:09] Speaker B: That's good. I think something that you talked about a little bit when we were just talking about this previously is how when you're being discipled, you should also being be being made into a discipler yourself. And so I want to ask, like, how has the discipleship that you've received formed the discipleship that you bring to others? Whether it's in your role at Newer west or even in the way you parent, like, even if it's things that you were like, I would not do, that I learned what not to do or what I learned to do. Is there anything that you want to share about how you disciple others? [00:17:49] Speaker A: How I disciple others based on how I was discipled. One lesson that was taught to me that I still hold to this day, that I teach others, is the lesson of just priority. Early in my discipleship journey, I was taught that God is number one. [00:18:17] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:18] Speaker A: And then family and then kids, or if you have kids and then ministry, community. Because at that time of my life, I was newly married, I was newly a dad, but I was so about ministry. Right. [00:18:38] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:39] Speaker A: And again, I had the feedback. I got the rebuke, I got the correction. Yeah, son, slow down. This is your priority. God's your priority. [00:18:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:50] Speaker A: Okay. And then you got to look after your family, look after your marriage, because that's also ministry. [00:18:54] Speaker C: Absolutely. [00:18:55] Speaker A: So that's. I hold that dear. That's very important lesson in my early. In my discipleship journey. And that's what I teach to others who I'm discipling today. Just the. The lesson of priority and knowing that, hey, if something happens with family, look after that first. [00:19:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:13] Speaker A: You know what I mean? Don't worry about ministry. We can look after this. We've got your back. You've got support. [00:19:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:19] Speaker A: Family's first ministry. Sorry, not first ministry, but God's first ministry. But then if something happens within the family, you go look after that. If there's anything about health or whatever. Whatever, go look after that. Because sometimes we just get so caught up in church life, ministry life, that we neglect family life, we neglect our marriage, we neglect our kids, and that's not right. Right. [00:19:45] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:45] Speaker A: You know what I mean? So that's one lesson I could. That I actually took on in my previous that now I pass on. Yeah. [00:19:53] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:19:53] Speaker B: That's really good. [00:19:54] Speaker A: I hope that answers the question. [00:19:55] Speaker B: Yeah, it does. I think it's a really, really necessary point of, like, yeah, sometimes we think, oh, I'm being discipled to grow into a, you know, great life group leader or worship leader or whatever it's like, for a particular cause. But actually, it's ultimately to follow Jesus, to become like him. [00:20:12] Speaker A: That's right. [00:20:12] Speaker B: And that has to be our first priority every time. And we look at people, and maybe you go to different people for different things. Like, okay, this person's really great at evangelism, so I'll learn from them, this person. But I think that ultimately everything has to come back to the number one, which is the one thing which is to behold the beauty of the Lord. Yeah, that's so good. [00:20:35] Speaker A: Yeah. And just to be like Jesus. [00:20:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:37] Speaker A: You know, and I think that's another thing we need to note as well. When you find. When you ask someone to speak into your life, ask the question, are they becoming more like Jesus every day? Is there fruit on their life? [00:20:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:50] Speaker A: To actually speak into my life. [00:20:51] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:52] Speaker A: You know what I mean? So, yeah, because that's the point of discipleship. Right. To be More like Jesus and to encourage other people to do the same. [00:21:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:01] Speaker B: It's literally imitate me as I imitate Christ. [00:21:04] Speaker A: That's right. That's right. That's what. That's what Paul said. [00:21:07] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, like, if you're looking at someone and they. They're not imitating Christ. [00:21:12] Speaker A: I don't really want to follow you, bro. [00:21:14] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, exactly. So how did you even, like, when you asked Pastor Dave to. To disciple you, how did you go, oh, he's the one that I want. Like, what did you see? [00:21:26] Speaker A: In all honesty, I think there was just such a chemistry between me and him. [00:21:31] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:31] Speaker A: Cool. But then I also found out that he was a husband. He is a husband, and he's a family man. And at that stage of my life, I was. I'd just been newly married, and I've just became a dad. And so I'm like, man, I'd love to learn from you, bro. [00:21:49] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:49] Speaker A: And so that. That's how it kind of came about. And again. Yeah. The rest is history. The rest is history. Yeah. [00:21:57] Speaker B: So good. So could you share with us a little bit more about some of the things that either you've learned or you've taught throughout the years? Maybe some of the things that are on your heart around discipleship? I want to give you the space to say sort of whatever it is that you want to share, whether it's a story or a scripture or something that you can share in this journey of discipleship. [00:22:26] Speaker A: Well, I think if you're discipling someone, Let me just encourage you. If you're someone who want to disciple someone, but you're, like, hesitant. Let me encourage you in this. You don't need a theological degree. [00:22:37] Speaker C: Come on now. [00:22:38] Speaker A: Okay. It helps. [00:22:39] Speaker B: There's. [00:22:39] Speaker A: There's actually a. There's a place for that. And actually, I would encourage you to go get an education. You know, I'm studying myself as well. You know, there's nothing wrong with that. I. You don't have to figure. Have it all figured out. You don't have to have it all together. [00:22:53] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:22:54] Speaker A: You don't have to have every answer in the world. [00:22:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:22:57] Speaker A: To actually disciple someone. [00:22:59] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:00] Speaker B: Because if you do, you're not pointing them to Jesus, you're putting them to yourself. [00:23:02] Speaker A: So I think the, The, The. The. The heart is. If you are more. If you are becoming more like Christ every day in your life, then I think you should invite people on that journey. [00:23:13] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:23:14] Speaker A: Again, we keep quoting Paul in First Corinthians. Imitate me as I imitate Christ. And that's all it is. Like, hey, I'm following Jesus. I want to be like, you want to come on a journey with me? [00:23:28] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:28] Speaker A: You know what I mean? [00:23:29] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:29] Speaker A: And along that, you teach them, you. You encourage them, you. You correct them, you rebuke them. You know what I mean? But at the same time, make sure that you yourself. [00:23:39] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:40] Speaker A: Are being discipled. I think it's so important to have covering, because if we don't have covering, then we're going rogue, I believe. [00:23:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:23:48] Speaker A: We're all. We're operating as orphans, not as sons and daughters without spiritual moms and fathers. And so I think it's so important to know that you yourself are being discipled as well. For me. Yeah. I find covering so important. It's vital. [00:24:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:24:08] Speaker A: Again, I only. I want to think, I want to believe that I only operate under covering. [00:24:15] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:24:16] Speaker A: And under accountability. So that's kind of like my take on discipleship. And again, it's just. It's all about becoming more like Christ. That's the whole purpose of it. That's the whole thing of discipleship. Becoming more like Christ and then teaching others to do the same. [00:24:36] Speaker C: Yep. [00:24:36] Speaker A: And then telling them to teach them to become more like Christ and multiplying that. [00:24:41] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:24:41] Speaker B: So, yeah, that's God's plan from the beginning. Like, we read that throughout the whole Bible that his plan is to expand his kingdom through family. From the very beginning, he's like, go, be fruitful and multiply. And then when Jesus brings the great commission, he says, go and make disciples, and I'm with you. He's first discipled them. He's shown them. [00:25:03] Speaker A: He's done life with him. [00:25:04] Speaker B: He's done life. [00:25:04] Speaker A: He's rebuked them. [00:25:05] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:25:06] Speaker A: He's rebuked Peter. He's reviewed Johnson, John and James. [00:25:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:25:09] Speaker A: You know, so. And they weren't perfect, but he's also encouraged them. [00:25:12] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:25:12] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:13] Speaker B: He's both. He's gone. Okay. Yep. Next time, don't do this or, you know. Okay. You've tried to cast a demon. Hasn't worked. Go back, pray fast. He's spoken into their life. [00:25:23] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:25:24] Speaker B: As he said his rebuke, Peter, a few times. [00:25:26] Speaker A: Yeah. I feel like sometimes when I read. When I see Peter in the Gospel, I relate to him so much. Anyways. Go ahead, Jess. [00:25:36] Speaker B: No, maybe it's the main character energy I relate to. It's like, oh, man, he gets the most rebuke, but then he also gets, you know, the great, great opportunities. And. [00:25:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:47] Speaker B: And Jesus, well, he's. [00:25:49] Speaker A: He's the first one that actually preached the gospel. [00:25:51] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:25:52] Speaker A: You know, in Acts. [00:25:53] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:25:53] Speaker A: Anyways, go ahead. Sorry. [00:25:54] Speaker B: No, no, no, it's good. I love it. I love your. Your thoughts. But that. That's exactly what God does. Like, he fathers us and he puts fathers and mothers in our lives so that we can produce children and father and mother others. It has to be like a perfect family. Has a mum and a dad and a child, and that child grows up and then has children of their own. [00:26:20] Speaker A: Correct. [00:26:20] Speaker B: And that's how it's supposed to be, both naturally and spiritually. And that's so necessary for us. And I think that requires something like, obviously there's a cost to it, but it requires something costly for young adults, especially in such a transient nature that we're like moving cities and changing churches and things. That's like, you've actually got to stay somewhere long enough and be planted long enough to be mothered and fathered and to have children in that space. [00:26:51] Speaker A: That's so true. You need a spiritual home. [00:26:53] Speaker C: Yes. [00:26:54] Speaker A: Yeah. And, you know, we hear the words, don't be potted, but be planted. But I would also add to that, don't just be planted, but be deeply rooted. [00:27:05] Speaker B: Yes. [00:27:06] Speaker A: What does it mean? It means, you know, what's the vision of the house? Serve it. You know, what's the vision of your leaders? Serve it. Steward it. Be a part of life group. Be a part of the volunteering team. You know, be deeply rooted. Know the culture. [00:27:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:27:21] Speaker A: Know the vision and the mission of the church. You know what I mean? And then. Yeah. So that. That, that plays a part as well, because that's how you. That's where it's in. It's in that place where you find your spiritual fathers and mothers and they can disciple you to be more like Jesus and love on you. And again, I want to keep saying, not just love on you and encourage you, but also. Correct you. Give you the rebuke as well, but then encourage you again. [00:27:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:27:49] Speaker A: But I think for us, ultimately, the ultimate model is Jesus. [00:27:53] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:27:55] Speaker A: So I think reading the Bible is so important. [00:27:58] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:28:00] Speaker A: You know, and I just want to encourage us young adults get into your Bible reading. [00:28:06] Speaker C: Yes. [00:28:06] Speaker A: It's so beautiful. The word is alive and active. And know as you read the Gospels especially, you see the life of Jesus and you see how he loves people and how he actually is. So. [00:28:21] Speaker B: Yeah, you're so right. And what you were saying before, even about people, like, don't feel like you need to be a theologian to be able to disciple someone, but we Want to be. Keep pointing people back to the word. And that just requires us to actually read it and know it. [00:28:35] Speaker A: Yeah, 100%. [00:28:37] Speaker B: I personally, and you could probably agree, I've personally, have been so formed and molded by discipling others as well. Well, because it requires you to know your word. It requires you to, like, actually look at my life. I'm like, well, if I'm going to tell someone to do xyz, am I doing that too? [00:28:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:52] Speaker B: And it keeps you accountable by discipling someone else. [00:28:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:28:56] Speaker B: Sometimes people miss that. Like, oh, I. I don't want to. I'm not perfect. I'm. I'm not ready enough to do this, or that's too hard, or I'm. I'm already doing too much. But actually discipling someone, whether it's, you know, someone. Someone who's not even a believer yet but is interested in reading the Bible, as you start reading with them, you will see that you'll be transformed and you'll grow deeper and will grow into Christ likeness as you put yourself in these kind of situations. [00:29:22] Speaker A: Yeah. Just stay hungry. [00:29:24] Speaker B: Yes. [00:29:24] Speaker A: Just stay hungry. I mentioned earlier in this pod, the mentee has to be hungrier than the mentor. [00:29:31] Speaker C: Yes. [00:29:32] Speaker A: You know, I wasn't just relying on one person. I read books, I read the Bible, I listened to podcasts and things like that, sermons. You know what I mean? Like, you gotta. You gotta want to want it yourself as well. [00:29:45] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:29:46] Speaker A: And that includes growing in your prayer life. Growing in reading the Word and. Yeah, you know what I mean? In getting yourself involved in community and. Yeah, all those things. So you got to be. Just stay hungry, stay hungry, stay humble and stay holy. [00:30:02] Speaker B: Come on now. [00:30:03] Speaker A: There you go. [00:30:03] Speaker B: Triple H. I love that. Triple H. I need to add that one because I have. My prayer is constantly, Lord, make me humble and hungry. Make me humble and hungry. I need to add in holy. Holy happens when you set apart, when you allow yourself to be transformed and you stay in the renewal and the refining process. That's where the, the holiness comes in. That's so good. [00:30:22] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:30:24] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:30:25] Speaker B: Thank you so much. That's been really rich. I love the things that you've shared. Any final thoughts before we wrap up this episode and send them on their way to be disciples? [00:30:36] Speaker A: Any final thoughts? Find a Bible that you love. Ooh, can I just say that that's cool. That's not my final thoughts, by the way, because we're looking at our Bibles and I'm like, okay, find a Bible that you love. If you're struggling to read the Word of God. First of all, pray. Pray for that hunger. Right? Lord, give me a hunger to read the Word. Okay, we get that. But you know what? You know what helped me as well? Getting a nice Bible. [00:31:05] Speaker B: Come on, now. [00:31:06] Speaker A: Don't just, like. Because I remember I've just been past the Bible. One of my first Bibles. It's like, it's not really personal. You know what I mean? But, you know, let me tell you guys, when I got a Bible that I actually liked, I like the color, I like the leather, I like the text block, I like the translation. You know what I mean? [00:31:28] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:31:29] Speaker A: It made me want to read it more. You know what I mean? So that's one. But go. Go find someone to disciple you. [00:31:37] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:31:38] Speaker A: And go disciple someone. That's my final thoughts. [00:31:40] Speaker B: I love that. [00:31:41] Speaker A: Play a part in the Great Commission. [00:31:43] Speaker B: Do. Do your part. [00:31:44] Speaker A: Do your part in the great. [00:31:45] Speaker B: If you. If you've been. If you're listening to this and you've been hesitating like, oh, you know, should I ask someone to disciple me? Should I disciple someone? This is your call to action. Ask the Holy Spirit. If you don't know who to ask to disciple you, if you don't know who it is that needs discipleship, get, you know, get still with the Lord and ask him, who is it that, you know, has fruit in their life that I want to be like that? Who looks like Jesus that I want to copy? So who have you put in my life that I can speak into? You know, we. We encourage life groups and that kind of thing because we. It's a model that we have at church, and we. We're doing that for your benefit. Not just to make our life groups bigger or to have more groups, but we're doing that for your benefit. If you're not in that, we encourage you to pursue that, but also pursue voice, individual voices that will speak to your life. Not 25 different people. [00:32:38] Speaker A: Correct. [00:32:39] Speaker B: Two or three. [00:32:40] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:40] Speaker B: That loved you and that want what's best for you, that can speak. [00:32:45] Speaker A: Yeah. That's so good. I just want to add to that as well. Yeah. What Jess said. When. When you find someone, when you pray for that someone, you don't need 20 different or 10, 20 different voices in your life. Have two, three. I would say five max. [00:33:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:33:02] Speaker A: To really speak into your life that knows your context, that knows your life, that knows your story, that knows your. What you're struggling with, but also knows the calling on your life so they can champion that. [00:33:15] Speaker C: Yes. [00:33:16] Speaker A: You know what I mean, yeah, so that's. That. That's just my add on. Sorry, just go ahead. [00:33:21] Speaker B: No, it's good. Like, I mean, I think you said this to me the other day, but like, not just because when you have lots of people, you can't go as deep with them, but. Yeah, few people that you can go deep. [00:33:29] Speaker A: Deep. Yes. So true. [00:33:30] Speaker B: And statistics say that those, you know, we all know that there can be a drop off of young adults from the kind of teen youth into young adulthood. [00:33:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:41] Speaker B: And a lot of people can fall away in those years. And the number one thing that kept people is having three to five mentors, disciples that speak into their life. [00:33:53] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:53] Speaker B: And so I want to encourage you, especially if you're a younger adult, you're 18, 19. Please prioritize this. Please prioritize people speaking into your life so that you can stay grounded and rooted in the church, in the word of God and in your walk with Jesus. This is absolutely vital. And we know we're saying this for your benefit. Anyway, before I get on yapping again, let's. Let's close this out. I would actually love, Levi, if you would pray for those listening for. Yeah. Impart your testimony to them. We know that testimony can prophesy life to us. And so we just want to see other people that maybe were a red flag like you are. Maybe they're considering, like, oh, I've got a few things in my life to clean up, or maybe they're someone who's further along in the journey. I would love for you to pray for them as we close out this episode. [00:34:45] Speaker A: Well, I want to start by saying that, you know, this year, Jess, is actually my 10th year anniversary of recommitting my life to Christ. [00:34:52] Speaker B: Come on. Yes. [00:34:55] Speaker A: Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. And. And I've had an on and off relationship with Jesus Christ. I'm not sure if some of you can relate to that, young adults, but I know I've had an on and off. But 10 years ago I said to myself, now this is it. No more on and off. I'm going all out. And that was 10 years ago. And the things that God has just done in my life, the blessings, the grace, everything, just. He's done so much. And I just want to encourage you if you're in that spot, I just want to encourage you that Jesus loves you. He's got a plan for your life. It doesn't matter how many times you slip away, doesn't matter how many times you've fallen into temptation and sin. Let me tell you something. God's love is greater than our greatest sin. No matter how great our sins may be, God's love is greater. [00:35:53] Speaker C: Yes. [00:35:53] Speaker A: Okay. So I just want to encourage you in that and that he's here, he's there. He's always been there. He's never left us. And I just want to encourage you to receive him as your Lord and Savior. For those who are a bit more ahead of the journey, pray into it. Pray. Who can speak into your life? And pray also that the Lord highlights a person that you can speak into their life. Because your life is not just for yourself. [00:36:23] Speaker C: Come on. [00:36:23] Speaker A: Your life is for others to know, so they can be inspired as well. They can be encouraged as well. The fruit is not for itself. It's for others. It's for other people as well, to eat, you know, so whatever that's on your life, it's not just for you, but it's for other people as well. And, you know, some of us have experienced things that not a lot of people have experienced, but only maybe you have experience which gives you the permission and the authority to speak into that space. So make sure you go out there and play a part in the Great Commission as well. Pray for someone to come into your life so that you can speak life into them, because your story can help them. Anyways, let's pray. [00:37:05] Speaker B: Thank you, Jesus. [00:37:06] Speaker A: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, first of all, that you love us, Lord. We thank you, Lord, for your great love. Your unconditional love, Lord, your everlasting love. Oh, God. And Father, right now we just pray for our listeners today, Lord God, wherever they may be, Lord. And I just pray, Lord God, that you'll just highlight a person that will love on them, disciple them, but also, Lord, that you will highlight people in their life for them to disciple. And so, Lord, won't you just guide them? Holy Spirit, be with them fear. Fill them with your presence. Fill them with your spirit, Lord God, and just guide them whatever they do, in word and in deed, let it be prompted by your spirit and your spirit alone. And so, Lord, we thank you. Bless them, Lord God, in Jesus, mighty name, Amen. Amen. [00:37:54] Speaker B: Amen. Thank you so much. Thank you for being on this episode and thank you for sharing. [00:38:00] Speaker A: Thank you so much. I love the ya. Let's go. Ya. By the way, sorry, Jess, I know we're overtime. [00:38:07] Speaker B: That's right. [00:38:08] Speaker A: YA is a soft spot. It was actually the first ministry that I played a part in, so got a soft spot for ya. You guys matter. You guys matter. [00:38:18] Speaker B: Yes, you do. We love you so much. Thank you so much for listening and for being part of this episode today. We will see you guys or you will hear from us in the next episode. Thank you and goodbye. [00:38:34] Speaker A: Sa.