Pastor Gail – Welcome
1. George and Georgia, it’s good to see you today, Victor Marina. It’s good to see you today. I always do. Well, I’m sorry. We’re so glad to see you. I shouldn’t say names today. I forgot everybody’s name almost today except George and Georgia. I know all of you. Judy, and Lars, Cecilia. We’re getting ready to go online here in a second.
2. I just want to thank the Lord. I thank everybody at the moment. We had a team two week. They were wonderful. And they just worshiped the Lord. They had so much respect and honor for this church. It was just a joy and a delight. I’m tired. It was just a fast doing. So, my brains going a little slow. But praise God, Jesus is always right with us on time. Amen.
3. And we want to crown Him today. We want to say He is the King of Kings. You are crowned oh Lord. The world is in chaos today, we know that. But He’s still God. He’s still the Lord. He still rules. Amen. Amen.
4. I’d like us right now to take a moment. Just to pray for our world, to pray for the situation. You know, I don’t know that we always know what we have to pray. It’s always if you don’t know how you want to pray or what you want to say about the situation with Israel and Iran and that whole region.
5. This morning you can say, as Jesus said, “Father, you will be done.” We can pray that if you don’t know what else to say. If you have nothing for sure in your heart. But we know in the region, Pastor Brian and I have been receiving all kinds of messages from people that follow Jesus in Iran and also in Jerusalem in particular. So, we just pray for all of them. Amen. Amen.
6. The will of Jesus, the will of God, our Father. Is that everyone would hear the good news. Let’s pray. Let’s pray. Let’s talk to the Lord. Father, right now in your mighty name, in the name above every name, you’re the one that we want to crown above all others, Lord. You, Lord, truly, even when it doesn’t seem like it, we know that you are in control. Today we come before you. We pray, O God, for the stress, the fear, the anxiety. We pray for those that have lost their peace, Lord. O God, that you will just send the word of the Lord to them, Lord, that you are there. O Lord, you are the God of all comfort. You are the God of all peace. You are the Lord God who is everywhere, Lord. We pray your will to be done, Lord. We pray your kingdom to come, Lord. We pray your peace that passes understanding. We pray, O Lord God, the victory of heaven, Lord, that all may know that Jesus is Lord God. Life here is so short, God.
7. Lord, only what we do for you is going to last. So as we pray today, Lord, we pray even in the middle of this difficult situation that the Word of the Lord would go forth, that you are God, so love the world, that you sent your holy begotten son, that whoever would believe in you would not perish but have everlasting life. We thank you, Lord. We thank you you’re in control. God, we trust you, Lord. Our eyes are on you, God. Lord, we pray for our brothers and sisters. We pray for those that don’t know you now yet, God.
8. Father, I want to pray for Greece right now. So many people around us here, Lord. Lord, help us not to forget them. Help us not to ignore them. But Lord, open up our eyes. How amazing you are. And how you love them too. Lord, help us to be your word of love to them, O Lord. We believe for a great awakening in Greece, O God, we believe. Lord, let your church be filled with love, love for you, Lord. And as we love you more, Lord, we will love those around us. We thank you, Lord, in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen.
9. It’s good to see you today. And so, I’m just going to ask you, why don’t you bring somebody near you and just say, well, anything you want to say, but greet with something wonderful. It’s always good to see so many smiles. It’s just really good to see you. Amen. Amen.
10. We’re going to have the Lord’s communion today. I love having communion. It’s the first Sunday. We also, for those of you who may have forgotten, but we do have communion in the back every Sunday, if you’d like to take it when it’s not the first Sunday.
11. My personal devotions lately have been centered around the last week of Jesus. And I’m just so amazed what I think about Jesus knew what was ahead of him.
12. And you and I weren’t even alive yet. But even at that time, he was thinking and planning and preparing a way for us to be free from the fear of death, to be free from sin, to be able to believe and know that when this, when you draw your last breath here, there’s a place that you will live forever that he’s prepared, that there’s no crying, no sickness, no pneumonia, no arthritis, no cataracts. It’s going to be absolutely amazing.
13. And so, as we get ready to have communion with our Lord, I think it will be wonderful this morning to stop for just a moment. And ask yourself, am I really aware, do I think about how great is his love? Such amazing, amazing love. I love all of you, but all of you together, all of you, if I could, all the love for all of you together in one big bowl, it would even begin to equal his love for each one of us. Isn’t that amazing? It’s so beautiful. So absolutely beautiful.
14. So, I want to look in Mark 14. And before we read about the supper, I want to read Mark 14, starting with verse 3. While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar, a very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
15. And we know that some of the people complained and thought it was wasteful because what was in the jar was so very expensive. Verse 9, I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. We know that evening many, many events are going to happen.
16. The Lord’s going to be betrayed. He’s going to stand before rulers. But in the middle of all this… What we see is amazing love.
17. While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave things, broke it, and gave it to the disciples saying, Take eat, this is my body. Then he took the cup, gave things, and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many, he said to them.
18. I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of this vine until the day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God. When they had sung him, they went out to the Mount of Olives. A new covenant.
19. Perhaps we could say, Jesus is the new Moses. Because with his death, he gives us a new exodus. Now, with this new covenant, we have the promise of eternity.
20. He leads us into eternal life by his blood. Such love, such amazing love. I’m going to ask them to pass out the bread and the juice or the wine, whichever you take, and if you will hold it for a moment.
21. And then today, wherever you’re seated, in just a few moments, I don’t want us to do it yet. I will pray for us. But I’m going to ask you, Brian, put up a song, please, to turn to someone standing next to you. And then I’m going to say that to Angelo. I pass the victory of Jesus Christ to you. And you will answer me, the peace and the victory of Jesus Christ, Amen.
22. And I will say that we are going to share the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. We’re going to share it today. So, we’re going to sing for just a minute as they’re passing this out. Just hold it, please, for a moment.
23. O heavenly Father, we thank you this morning that today we can share the love of Jesus as we celebrate that last supper. We share the peace and joy. We share the New Covenant in the name of Jesus. Now, if you’ll just share with someone that’s out there, you can share the love of Jesus.
24. Lord, we pray for our children. We pray they will be a mighty army of God. Amen. Hallelujah. Praise God. So, we dismiss our children. She is so cute. Yes. So, all of our children, hi. She’s got a beautiful smile.
25. We want to share an offering and our tithe with the Lord today. There are many testimonies of people that they didn’t feel like they had enough money to give God an offering or pay their tithes. But people told them how, when they did it, they got blessed. They started to do it. And wouldn’t you know? God blessed. God blessed. Amen. This is a day when we need to trust God for greater things. Greater things. Amen. We give to the Lord to reach the world with the Good News. We ask God to pray for our tithe. Amen.
26. I’m going to ask you, for those of you that I challenged to pray at least 5 minutes a day because a lot of you, I know, are struggling to pray. I hope you’re doing that at least 5 minutes. That will become 10 minutes or 15 minutes. That you will pray for an inflow of young people and children into this church. Amen.
27. I’m so excited when I see Laura. When I see George and Georgia and Victor. I mean, you know. We need some young people here, right now. I saw Emmanuel and Nicholas, and Benjamin. Yes. Because you’re not just the church of tomorrow. You’re the church of today.
28. Amen.
29. I want to see some of you playing piano so I don’t have to. I want to see some of you playing piano so I don’t have to. Some of you leading. And some of you leading worship. Tina teaching you to dance. To be disciples of Jesus. We’re talking. Pastor Brian is going to be preaching today about being his disciples.
30. Yes. My pastor. When I was 12 years old. He knew I was called to preach. He had me preach at the grown-up service. Yes. Maybe we’ll have Ole. Preach for us. Emmanuel, Nicholas. Amen. Elpida. God bless you.
31. We’re so glad you’re here today. And of course, Tuesday through Thursday the church is open at 10 a.m. And Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Look at the Word. Pastor Brian.

Pastor Brian – Main Message
1. Good morning to everyone. We’re going to move along in our discussion of possessing a Christian Worldview. We’re using the English alphabet to run through it and choose a word that helps us in this process. And today we get to the letter ‘D’. So, we’re going to talk today about what discipleship is, as a word.
2. It’s a word that we throw around in church often enough, and I’m going to give you just a couple of Scripture references up front. I’m not going to read these, but write them down and take a look at them again for yourself and the things around them.
3. Luke 9 helps us to understand. And I didn’t go to these because they’re references, we know quite well. Even if we don’t know where to find them, we know them. But Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me’” explains to us that discipleship, becoming a disciple of Jesus, begins with choosing personally to follow Him.
4. It means trusting Him as Savior, but also committing to Him as Lord. Many believers will look for a Savior, but it’s harder to give our lives over to a Lord. To actually start making our attempts to live according to His teachings.
5. So, in Luke 9:23, Jesus told us, that to be His disciple, we must deny ourselves, take up a cross, and follow Him. What does that mean to take up a cross? It means to understand that in the same way Jesus lived as a servant and a person of sacrifice, that we must do the same.
6. So, discipleship is first about relationship. About walking with Christ, in faith. Faith in who He is. And then obedience. Because what He says, we should do.
7. I used to have a professor in college. He would always say, ‘God has a way. And His way works.’ And that’s something that day-by-day, we should get more and more embedded in our minds and in our spirits. Jesus has a way of life. And His way works.
8. So that’s where we could start those 5 minutes of prayer a day. ‘Jesus, help me to become more like you. And that means help me to think more like you. So that at the end of it I can act more like you.’
9. So, discipleship is first relationship. And then it’s a process of spiritual growth. Why do we talk about these things like, reading the Bible, praying, being a part of worship, obedience to the Holy Spirit? Why do we talk about these things? And why do we take the time to do them?
10. Because through them we become transformed. Slowly, slowly, day-by-day we do start to become more like the One we follow. Because what is the goal of our character? What are you and I supposed to look like? Again, we’re talking about discipleship. How do we learn to do this?
11. Well, our goal is to reflect the love of Jesus. We all know that one, and it’s easy enough, in the good days. The goal is to reflect the humility of Jesus. That one is a little harder for some of us. Harder for some of us than some of you. How often do you pray for humility to be increased?
12. The goal is to reflect the holiness of Jesus. In this church we use the phrase holiness of heart. Because in a lot of places holiness means don’t sin. Do these things, don’t do those things. But you will never actually grow in discipleship just by doing, it’s by becoming. And holiness doesn’t begin with what I do out here. It begins with what is in here. So that I can then grow better in what I do out here.
13. The goal is to reflect the compassion of Jesus. Why do we pray for people in faraway lands? Why do we pray for each other for that matter? Why do we try to look for the widows and the orphans and make sure that they’re cared for? Why do we look for those who are in pain and try to help heal them? Because the character of Jesus lives with compassion. And none of this are we instantly purified. We don’t become perfect.
14. The day I got up from my knees, having repented of all my sins, and having asked Jesus to change my life, can you believe that everything did not change for me the next day? And it didn’t happen for you either. Because discipleship is not about perfection. But it is about a very steady growth as we are guided by the Holy Spirit.
15. And we can list off all of the things. The fruit of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit. So many ways to talk about the character of Christ. And the ways that He wants to see them live through us. And that’s why we have to orient our minds to be in a constant pursuit of growth.
16. That’s why Paul said in Romans 12:1-2, “I beg you, brothers and sisters, I beg you, by the mercies of God, present yourselves, a living sacrifice unto God, and be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that through that process you’ll begin to prove what the good things of God are in and through your life.”
17. I paraphrase that a little bit. But that’s the heart of it. Be transformed by getting your mind in the right direction. Getting up every day. And remembering to say, ‘Lord, who I was yesterday is not enough for today. Renew my mind and take me on a new journey. And let me become more like you.’
18. So, discipleship is first knowing Jesus. It’s secondly becoming more like Jesus. And then third, it’s helping others follow Jesus. We all know that second scripture, Matthew 28:19-20, “Go into all the world.” You, go. That may be across seas, that may be across the street. That may be to the person who lives above or below you. But orient yourself to go into the world and make people into new Christian converts.
19. Somebody catch me on that? Go into all the world and make disciples. Jesus loves you, come to Him is not the end of the story. Christian discipleship is not only your personal relationship with Jesus and becoming like Him. But Christian discipleship is also about your relationships with other people.
20. I was taught to evangelize very aggressively. Sometimes it’s appropriate. But in the world today, if your first approach is, ‘Do you know where you will go tonight if you die? Heaven or hell? And let me describe those things to you. Do you know where you’re going to go?’ Most people will turn you off right there.
21. But if I spend some time with somebody in relationship, it won’t take too many coffees or dinners. Before conversations begin to come. ‘Why do you believe that? Why do you choose to live that way? What is it that makes you who you are? Well, let me tell you.’
22. I have a relationship with someone who is the most amazing influence in my life. I met this person, and he started to change everything about me. He gives me the best advice, never steers me wrong, teaches me to be a better person, helps me in all my other relationships.
23. Oh, my goodness! Who is this great person? Let me tell you. My Savior, my Lord, the Son of the actual God, has changed my life. And when those people make decisions even to begin to start to follow, I think that’s where Matthew 28 really kicks in.
24. Go into the world and make disciples. Teach them about your relationship with Jesus. Teach them about why you obey Him and follow Him. And let the Holy Spirit do His work. A true disciple learns from Jesus. To do that, that means you’ve got to pay attention.
25. You have to learn. And then for you to be a disciple, the Bible says, you must start teaching, encouraging, serving, and modeling Christlike behavior. And if you are not doing perfectly, if you’re not pursuing those things, then you cannot actually biblically identify yourself as a disciple.
26. I know this is not exciting teaching for a lot of people. But to really orient ourselves into a Biblical Worldview, especially as the world keeps moving forward, we must find a way to become more intentional about our own discipleship.
27. Put up the church logo page. In this church we’ve defined it three simple ways, just as a reminder. An easy way of thinking, am I on the right track? So, I’m going to challenge you again with this this morning. This is the mission of the Glyfada Christian Center.
28. Become a worshipper and teach people to worship. That means when there is worship time together, if at all possible, be there. And don’t just come for yourself. But be there to worship so much that it helps the person next to you worship better. Make it a point in life that when you’re at home, you find times alone with God just to remind Him who He is to you, not because He needs it, but because you get to. And worship is a much bigger word than just singing songs. It includes serving. But in this context, I’m saying, we want everyone to become intimate with the Lord Jesus Christ.
29. Because that brings you back to my point one, it’s about relationship with Jesus. And that means also relationship with His people, His body. So, it’s important. And show up big. Show up ready to serve the people around you with the worship that is in your heart. And if it’s not in your heart, make it your first order of business to get with Him until it is.
30. And then grow. Learn the Word of God more and more and more so that you can be the Word of God more and more and more. You’re not going to get there tomorrow. I’ve been at this for 40 years and I’m still far, far away. But I walk a path that says, keep going, don’t stop there. Not one person in this room has arrived at the destination. The words, ‘I’m good enough,’ don’t exist in our vocabulary. We walk a path that says, ‘I’m going to learn to get better at this, not because of my power, but because of how I’m allowing the Holy Spirit to transform me.’
31. Go make disciples of yourself and of other people. So, discipleship is born from discipline and I’m going to do this very quickly. I want to give you 3 Scriptures to think about. Nobody likes to be disciplined. That word is used two ways. My mother and father used to, well they still do, discipline me. Teach right and wrong. Learn right and wrong. Discipline is when something is done badly, it gets called out.
32. So, discipline is correction. And that’s the core of the word disciple and discipleship. So, we have to remember what Hebrews 12 says, “no discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”
33. Let God have the freedom to discipline you. Through His Word, through the voice of other believers. Let me add to that, mature believers, because people judge each other far too easily. But discipleship means learn to receive correction. So that it can produce a harvest of righteousness.
34. Second Scripture, Proverbs 3:11-12. Remember how God disciplines you. And how with others you should behave. And this can regulate family relationships, how parents train children. How spouses deal with each other. It regulates how we act with one another. And even how we present the correction of God to people outside of the church or His Kingdom.
35. Do not despise the Lord’s discipline. And do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves. Here it is. As a father, the son he delights in. Our Lord does not have need of a lot of angry Christians. We use discipline as a way of love. It’s not anger at the child, it’s love for the child. And the final scripture is this.
36. I hope you’re getting this today. Because I feel like in the world today, we have a lot of would-be followers of Jesus, people who have confessed something. I’m going to look across the room again. But we as a people have to become more intentional about being discipled into who He has called us to be.
37. And we get very easily brought to a place where we forget to keep going. We’re just ‘good enough.’ We forget to keep growing in the things of the Lord. We even stop asking to grow. We stop encouraging each other to go on. But we cannot just be a people who come to a place to have a religious event together.
38. We have to be Matthew 28 people, “Go into the world and make disciples,” in the manner that the Lord indicates. But intentionally nonetheless. So, what I’m trying to do is challenge myself and anybody sitting or hearing who has either become content with where you are or who has become content to just let everything happen as it does. And who has forgotten to pursue to be transformed by the renewing of our mind.
39. I just came back from Corinth so this Scripture keeps ringing. “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way so to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last. But we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”
40. I might say to all of us today even as a church everybody runs. To some extent everybody trains. But that’s not good enough. Run not to compete. Run to win. “Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.” And I think that can be a picture of a lot of believers’ lives. Running and we have no idea to where and boxing like we’re boxing the air. “No. I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
41. And it’s not about taking a switch and beating yourself up. Striking a blow to my body doesn’t mean just physically doing the right things. It means I make myself a living sacrifice so that I can be transformed by the renewing of my mind. So that during this race and at the end of the race I will have proved the good and perfect will of God.
42. This is a call to all of us today. If you are going to live like a true believer renew yourself as a disciple. Have relationship with Jesus. Begin to follow him in obedience more and more and more. And teach others to do the same. And we will move from glory to glory to glory.
43. Bow your heads with me. Lord, I just present this word to you today. With all my heart I believe that you’re calling us. Not out of a place of correction. Not out of a place of disappointment. But out of the strength of your love. You’re calling us to be reminded, keep pressing toward the prize. Push forward. And when you’ve gotten there push forward again. And when you’ve gotten there push forward again. Holy Spirit, you are the One who gives us the power of God to be transformed. Come to each one of us today and speak your Word. Whatever we have heard today. Bury it in our hearts. I ask one last thing Lord. In your name, help us to be like you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor Gail
44. I want to give us just a moment. All this week, I’ve been thinking about Jesus. I was thinking about those 12 disciples. Most of you don’t realize they were probably just teenagers. They were teenagers. And I thought about that. They saw Jesus die on the cross. Those teenagers.
45. Peter was probably the oldest because we knew he was buried. But I thought about those teenagers. See Jesus suddenly come in the room after he rose from the dead. And I thought that’s why those teenagers they saw him. They saw him. Whatever came. Whatever came.
46. Even dying like Peter on the cross upside down. They could go through anything. Even as teenagers. They marched into life. They went into life with victory in Jesus. And I thought I want to challenge us today to be those disciples.
47. Jesus let me see you. Jesus let me see you. Let me know you. Whatever comes. Whatever comes. Jesus, I believe in you. Jesus, I will follow you. Whatever comes. Because you’re worth it all. You’re worth it all. Amen. This morning I just you know I wish I was a teenager all over again. I do. I wish I knew then what I know now. You would just love him more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more and more.
48. Because he is the reason I live. And today before you leave. And you’re dismissed to go upstairs. You can. And have coffee. And thank you every one of you that brings something to church for dessert. For coffee time. But today if you’re in the room. And you want to tell the Lord I want whatever life I have. I want it to be yours. Why don’t you just take someone by the hand. As we worship a few moments. And say to them, pray for me. Pray for me. Pray for me. I want to be like those young disciples. I want my life to be yours. All of it. All of it to be yours. Jesus. Jesus.