Hey, welcome to Venture Church, man. I'm glad that you're here today. I'm glad I get to be here with you as well. By the way, look, whether you are live with us at one of our physical campuses, your live with us online, traveling this weekend, tuning in, wherever you are. Maybe you just couldn't get off your couch this morning after, I don't know, for overtime or rain delays, what, I'm glad you're here either way. Like, I'm glad you're here. And so let me just say hey. Happy Labor Day weekend, man. I hope you get some rest from your labors this weekend. I hope you find a little time for rest. It is a good and holy and righteous and biblical things to rest. Right? Like, we were created to to work, to achieve, to accomplish, six days a week, and rest on the seventh. And so I hope you get some rest this weekend. I hope you find a little time to to be with and and be rejuvenated a little bit.

So let me tell you where we're headed today. Okay, we have been, if you didn't know, maybe you're just now kind of connecting with us or reconnecting with us from the summer, we've been for the past four or five weeks now in a series that we've called the way of Jesus. And listen, I'm not gonna spend a whole lot of time recapping here. And so if you've missed any of this series, you've missed any of these messages, been a really want to encourage you, go back and watch them. You can download the Venture Church app, there you can see all the past messages. You can get the message notes. You can take the seven marks assessment we've been talking about, you get connected in the house search, you do all that right there, right? And so do that, and I really want to encourage you to spend some time watching these messages if you've missed them, because here's the deal, and I promise I'm not trying to be over dramatic about this, but I really do believe what we've been talking about over the past several weeks cannot only change, radically change your semester, the next few weeks, the next few months, no, matter, really believe it can change the trajectory of your life, because here's the deal, what Jesus is inviting us into, when we talk about the invitation of Jesus to follow him, to follow in his way, what he's inviting us into is a better way of doing and experiencing life.

And man, that's what I want you to see and not miss out on. And so download the app so you can watch back the messages if you've missed them. But just to kind of set the stage real quick for where we're going in scripture today, as we've been walking through this series together, the way of Jesus, what we've been talking about is what it looks like for you and I to live a life uniquely and distinctly marked as we follow in the way of Jesus, as we follow the example that Jesus said for us. And so as we look through the gospels and we look at the life of Jesus, we see there's certain areas, we've outlined seven of them, we see their certain areas where Jesus is life is uniquely and distinctly marked, we're set apart, where it stands out from the world and the culture around him. As we look through the New Testament and the life of the church that he established, right, we see in the same way the same areas where their lives where uniquely and distinctly marked, where they stood apart and they they stood out from the culture and the world around them. And so for you and I, right, as we follow in the way of Jesus, the invitation isn't to live under a list of do's and don'ts, maybe you understand that and that feeling a little bit, but, man, is an invitation to walk in the life and the example that Jesus set for.

So we've talked through these different ideas, right, the ways in which we've seen Jesus's life stand apart and stand out, right, these seven marks that we've called him. We've talked about daily essentials and life rhythms, right? That's kind of daily habits and life habits that help us grow in our relationship with God. We've talked about corporate worship, like this moment, gathering together with the broader church, the bigger body, to see that we're part of something beyond ourselves, but also intentional community, where we get in circles, we get need a knee and face the face with people, and we grow in relationship. We've talked about living generously and serving others, where we take what God has poured into our lives and we use it to invest in the good and growth of the people around us. And so today we're gonna zoom in on the last idea, seven marks, what we've called developing others. And understand, as we talk through these ideas, we're not talking about steps that you achieve one at a time, but we're talking about lanes, areas that we grow in as we follow Jesus.

And so today we're gonna talk about the idea of developing others, about leaning into and pouring into the fate and fellowship of the people around us. And so what we're gonna be, if you want to go ahead and turn there, we're gonna be in first Kings chapter 19, in the Old Testament, first king chapter 19. Yes, this is a series of message about the life of Jesus, the way of Jesus, we're gonna get to the life of Jesus in just a minute, but I want to show you this passage, and here's why. As we've been working on the series, really for months, I mean, as we've been developing this series, we've been developing the content that you have on the app for the seven marks assessment and all of that, one of the things that just personally in my life, one of the things that became very evident is that the idea of life rhythms, what we call life rhythms, the idea of practicing limitations, right, like not always wanting to do, to have, to be more, but the example that Jesus set for us to be present where we are in life and circumstance, to be present in relationship, right, to seek God and what we have, is a thing that just quite honestly, I haven't been great at. Okay, the area in my life that men needs a lot of attention. I'm always going, always doing, there's always a meeting to prepare for or something to be at or something. I always feel like there's more, if not more for me to do them more for me to be, right.

And so I decided that it's gonna start real simple. Real simple, through this series, I'm gonna take five or ten minutes a day and just spend and quiet silence with God. I typically go to the gyms, and to the gym in the mornings, like normally my first step of the day, so get up, I'll go to the gym. And so I decided that, all right, you know, I'm gonna leave the gym five or ten minutes early, really easy to do, believe the gym five or ten minutes early, and I'm gonna take that time, that extra five or ten minutes that I normally don't have in my my morning routine, and I'm gonna spend that time just sitting with God. No agenda, no media, no steps, just being present with God, asking God to help me process what it is that I'm feeling, what it is that's on my heart, what it is that's on my mind, what I'm facing, what's in front of me, what's behind me, just be with God before I open his word and kind of begin my day that way.

And so look, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna be too dramatic on this. Okay, like not every one of those moments has just been crazy life altering. I will tell you though that there is a distinct difference and how I approach my days when I do that versus when I don't, right, when I have those moments, just five minutes of sitting in the presence of God, man, I approach my days with with such a sense of peace and calm and sustainability that's not there the other days. But there was a day a few weeks ago there really stood out to me. Got home from the gym just a few minutes early, five, ten minutes, got me a couple coffee, went to sit out on my back deck, that's where I wanted to just kind of be with God in that spaceman. I was excited, excited about these new rhythms, expired it, excited about these new moments, right, just feeling good about it all. So got me a cup of coffee, went to sit down on the back deck, and look, as soon as I sat down, heard my neighbor just wearing out a chainsaw. I'm talking about just going to town on it.

And here's the deal. Like, I don't want to be the guy, I promise I don't want to be the guy that, you know, just props up on the deck with my feet up sipping a cup of coffee complaining about other people doing work. Okay, I'm not trying to be that guy, but listen, it was six o'clock in the morning, okay? Like, I get started pretty early, this was early. Okay, and if you're wondering, by the way, what the line is, it's the sun, the sun gives you that line, if the sun is not up yet, you should not have a machine in your hand that can take a tree down, you shouldn't do it, there's no reason to. If you're that guy and you're wondering what's wrong with that, well, look, I'll just go ahead and tell you, okay, there's a lot wrong with that. And here's the deal, Jesus loves you. It's okay, nobody else likes you, but Jesus loves you, steal. Is not okay. And so, like, I felt, man, I felt the frustration welling up. You know, I'm saying, like, a man, here I am, I'm just trying to be a good Christian, I'm just trying to spend time with my Lord and Savior, you know, and and this fools out here cutting down trees at six o'clock in the morning, and I felt that frustration coming in, and I mean, I, like it was just before I was ready to say, you know what, I'm done, sorry, God, couldn't do it today, that joker over there. And God spoke a word of peace and calm over me in that moment, and he said Kyle, do you really think, you really think I can't speak louder than that chainsaw? You really think I can't speak louder than your neighbor?

And in that moment, man, just a few minutes there in the presence of God, he took me to a place in scripture, and he opened my mind to some truth that I really do believe he gave you and I in this more, gave you and I for this moment. As I want to show you, first Kings chapter 19. This is where God took me that morning. The first scene, chapter 19 verse 9, says this: there he, being Elijah, their Elijah came to a cave and he lodged in it, and behold the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to Elijah, what are you doing here Elijah? He said I have been very jealous of the Lord. Jealousy here's a good thing. Elijah saying, man, of, I pursued the things of God, I've been very jealous of the Lord, the god of hosts, for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, they've thrown down your altars, they've killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away. There's a lot of isolation, there's a lot of anxiety, there's a lot of depression going on in Elijah's life in this moment. Verse 11, and he said, and God said, go out and stand on the mount before the Lord, and behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper, what some translations say a steel small voice. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in the cloak, and he went out and he stood at the entrance of the cave, and behold there came a voice to him and said, and here's our question again, what are you doing here Elijah?

Now, let me kind of camp out right here for just a minute. Okay? Because I listen, I'm honest, we don't know how many times I've heard this passage. Priest, I'm sure I've done it, preached this passage and talk through this passage, and kind of left with this idea that listen, God does not speak in the big and the loud and the obvious, right? God whispers. This is still small voice. And so many, you've got to find the peace, and you've got to find the quiet, and you got to pull out of the chaos in order to find the voice and the word that God is whispering to you. And listen, there's a lot of truth in that. Okay, for many of us that is exactly what we need to do. In our life is pure chaos right now, and we need to, we need to find some ways to pull out of the chaos, we need to find some ways to pull out of the whirlwind that we're already in and find the voice of God where God is speaking. God does speak in a whispering, God does speak in the stillness, but to say that God does not speak in the loud and the obvious is just not true.

God did not speak to Elijah through the whirlwind, yes, but you know what, he did speak to job that way. Joe chapter 38, God spoke to him out of the whirlwind, and out of the world when God declared his power and his majesty and his might. God did not speak to Elijah through the earthquake, but Exodus chapter 20, when God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, the earth shook, and out of that earthquake God declared his justice and his goodness and his grace and his mercy. God did not speak to Elijah out of the fire, but in Exodus chapter 18, God led the nation of Israel through a pillar of cloud by day, in a pillar of what, a pillar of fire by night, and through the fire God proclaimed his providence and his protection and his presence in the nation. And so yes, God does in fact speak through the loud, through the obvious, through the in your face. I'm gonna be honestly, there's, sometimes there's, sometimes I think that God's guidance in our life is so obvious that we missed it. We look past them. Like some of yours, only some of you, you're gonna date a guy this semester who makes you feel like trash and uses your body. And about six months into this relationship, you're gonna look at your friend and say, you know what, I think God's telling me I should break up with him. Like, yes, God is, your mother is, your friends are, like, we all are, there's not, you shouldn't be in that relationship. Listen, if you are married, that relationship at work, you don't have to pray about whether you should pursue it or not. God ain't in it, I'm gonna go ahead and tell you, right, he's already told you that he ain't in that one. You ain't got pray about that. Like, there's some things that are just so obvious that we don't have to make it more complicated, we don't have to make it more difficult, it doesn't have to be that mystical. God's guidance is clear and obvious in our life, right? He speaks through the loud, and he speaks through the in your face, yes, but he doesn't to Elijah in this moment. He doesn't speak to the loud and the obvious, he whispers. Why? Because Elijah's life at this point was pure chaos.

Man, he, and you heard it in his prayer to God, right? He had, he had fought for God. He had fought literal wars and battles. He had conquered and killed the enemies of Israel. He is at this point running for his life, his life as being threatened. He is hiding in a cave in the mountains because people are trying to kill him. Elijah's life is chaos. And so in the midst of his chaos, God speaks to calm word, because that's what Elijah needed to hear in that moment. But listen, don't don't miss this. Okay? God is a good father. Good father. And like a good father to a son, to a daughter that he loves, listen, God knows what you need to hear. And he knows how you need to hear it. That's the point of this passage. It's not that God doesn't speak, or God can't speak in certain ways, but it's that God will speak how you need to hear, because he knows where you are. He knows the caves and the mountains that you're hiding in. He knows what you need to hear and how you need to hear it.

So God speaks how and what we need here was true of all of those stories. About the way, but I'm not, job or Moses or Israel or Elijah, was true of all of those stories, is that God speaks not necessarily how, when, or what he speaks, but that God does in fact speak. And so we can trust and know that whether we're on the mountain with God, or we're in the cave with them, that he will speak. And two, that the people positioned, impostered themself to hear from God. They were in a place where they could be in the presence of God, and so God will speak. Let me, let me keep going in the story before I get off too far down that track, because that's actually not even the main part of the story I want you to see. All right, first Kings chapter 19, skip a verse, look at verse 15. And it says in the Lord said to him, go return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazel to be the king of Syria, and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shea fat of Abel Mahala you shall anoint to be the prophet in your place.

Now, I realize other part of the story was a lot cooler than this part of the story, but here's what's happening. Okay, because this is a really cool point. Here's what happens. Elijah has this moment with God on the mountain, right, this incredible life-changing moment where he hears the voice of God, but he also sees the power and the might of God, how awesome and incredible he is. And when I lied to leaves that space, that mountain top experience with God, the very first thing he does is he goes at the word of God, he goes and he anoints the next generation of leaders. He pours what God has poured into his life. Elijah then goes and pours into others. Here's the point. Okay, this is the big point of today. If you get nothing else, here's the big idea of everything today, is that God's movement in you is meant to move through you. When God speaks to you, he intends to speak through you. You cannot, listen, you cannot manufacture how, when, where, what God speaks to you, but one thing, man, one thing I'm very confident enough, is that when God speaks to you, there's always a who for you to look for, there is a who for you to speak to. You tracking with me on that? That when God moves in you, he intends to move through you.

That's what happens with Elijah on this mountain. He hears from God, he spends time with God, and he immediately goes and then begins to pour out what God has poured into him into the lives of others. I was thinking about the illustration that Blake used two three weeks ago when we talked about the ideal generosity, right, and Blake had this illustration where he had a bowl and a cup and a picture of water, and he talked about, when we give, a lot of times we get a little in our cup and then we pour it out, we get a little on our cup and then we pour it out, and we feel like we're always empty, right? But instead, if we, if we can hold our lives up right and receive all that God is pouring into our lives, then as our cup fills up, the overflow spills out into the world around us, and that overflow is the generosity that God is giving and pouring out through you and I.

Here's the problem though for many of us, for many of us, we've put a lid on our life. God has poured into us, God has spoken to us, God has shown us his goodness, his glory, his might, and in an effort, is probably a good effort, and an effort to hold on to it, we've put a lid on our life, and a lot of times that lid comes through an excuse. Why, I don't have enough to give. Well, I don't have enough time to say, well, my house isn't big enough to host. We put a lid on our lives. Well, I don't, man, I don't know enough to speak to somebody else. I, man, I got too many questions myself to try to lead somebody else to Jesus, how can I? And every one of those is a lid that we place on our lives that keeps the overflow from pouring out to the people God intends for us to influence. But not only, man, not only does that lid keep the overflow from coming out, listen, it keeps God from pouring more in. God has more, it has more for you to experience. God has more words for you. God has more life for you. God has more joy and hope and peace, and I'm not saying life is gonna be perfect and pain free, it's not, but what I'm saying is God does have more better life for you, but the only way for us to experience that is to take the lid off, to remove the excuses and let some run out. Let some of what God has poured into us overflow into the lives and the people in the stories around us. Take the lid off.

Let me show you what this looks like in the life of Jesus. Luke chapter 6, Luke chapter 6, just a couple of verses real quick, Luke chapter 6 verse 12. It says in these days he, Jesus, went out onto the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. Time familiar, so what Elijah is doing, right? He's on the mountain conversing, talking with God, says all night Jesus continued in prayer to God. Verse 13, and when they came he called his disciples, and he chose from them 12 whom he named apostles. There's a difference, by the way, there's a difference in the New Testament between the words disciples and apostles, a lot of times we use those interchangeably. A disciple is a student, is a follower, is a listener. Jesus had thousands, hundreds of disciples, people who followed him and listened and learn from him. And apostle, however, an apostle has authority, they stand apart, they're different. And so in this moment, right, what's happening is Jesus has spent time on the mountain with God, just like Elijah, he has spent time praying with God just like Elijah, and he comes down from that mountain, and he calls his disciples, his followers together, and he looks 12 of them in answers, I'm giving you the authority to continue my work even when I'm not here.

But what's happening here is more than just a giving of title. Okay? Because for the next three years, Jesus is gonna pour his life into these guys. He's gonna spend time with them. They're gonna eat meals together. They're gonna walk through journeys, difficulties when celebrations are gonna walk through that together. He's going to invest in their faith. He's going to invest in their fellowship. He's gonna serve them. He's gonna teach them how to serve others. And eventually he's going to ignite them. He's going to commission them out to go and do the work he started in them. And all of that, great. Commission says as you go make disciples. As you go in life, as you go to work, as you go to the ball field, as you go to the family reunion, as you go to your friends house, make disciples in those spaces and in those places.

A disciple, by the way, in order to make disciples, I know we get really overwhelmed with that idea. To make a disciple isn't to, isn't to to preach from the stage, man, it's not, it's not just to be a foreign missionary, although those might be spaces and places you make disciples, but to make a disciple, that's what Jesus is inviting us and calling us into, is man, an intentional investment into the faith and followership of other people. Intentional relationships for the good and growth of the people around us. So what it looks like to make a disciple.

Sad note real quick, by the way, when we talk about the Great Commission, a lot of times we talk about it, we think about it as like a graduation type moment, right? Like the disciples, man, the apostles, they've walked with Jesus for three years, they've passed the test, they've done the coursework, they did the labs, everything's good, and just like, all right, now you get to go do your thing, this is what I've been equipping you for, is what I've been training you for. Listen, the Great Commission is not a graduation moment for the apostles, it's not a graduation moment for us, because a lot of times we think that, right, if it's a graduation moment for them, well, then maybe one day I'll pass enough test, maybe one day I'll walk with Jesus long enough, maybe one day I'll do enough that Jesus is okay, now you can go do the thing. But I've really called in a quick you to do, is not a graduation moment, it's a guarantee, where he says, listen, everything that's happened in my life, everything that's happened through my presence in this world will continue to happen through you, through the church, through this church, through you as followers, will continue to happen through the presence and power of the holy spirit in you. It's a guarantee that he's not gonna leave you, that he's not gonna forsake you, that he's gonna walk with you in this journey. It's a guarantee that you don't have to do it on your own, because you can't. He says I'm not asking you to do it on your own, I'm asking you to walk with me as we do it, to make disciples, to invest in the faith fellowship of the people that he's brought into our lives.

Let me tell you what this looks like for me, by the way, because I know, I realize the irony, like, I'm standing on stage, you know, I got a microphone, and you're thinking, like, Kyle, disciples, it's really easy for you, right, like, you get paid to do this stuff. Let me tell you what this looks like in my life right now. And this is, I mean, it's different in every season, or seasons where I feel like I kind of understand, and there's seasons where I feel like I ain't got a clue what this is supposed to look like. But a few weeks ago, just a random text conversation, group message got started up between me and a couple of guys, just a couple of guys, and I'm friends with, me and Mark, we've been friends for years, our families have been friends together, I've spent time, I've spent far more time just kind of sitting around a fire pit with these guys just talking about who knows what, been doing anything else, right? Like, this isn't just a Bible study group, like these are just friends that life has connected us together. And so a few weeks ago a message thread kind of got started between the three of us, and we were just talking about, hey, look, I was reading through the book of Acts with the reading plan at church, and this thing stood out, I thought it was really cool. And what's happened since that time, and is, this conversation has just kept going for weeks now, where we're sharing things we're struggling with, where we're sharing difficulties, but we're also sharing wins, we're sharing what God is showing us in scripture. Like nobody is trying to lead a group, nobody has all the answers, nobody has an agenda, but it's just a couple of friends talking about what God is doing in their lives. Listen, that that's what I think discipleship looks like. That's what developing others looks like.

I think about the scriptures, Proverbs 27, maybe maybe you've heard this before, Proverbs 27:17. The writer of Proverbs says as as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. And what I love about that language there is the implication that two items of like state can collide for mutual benefit. Right, like it doesn't say, it doesn't say as sharp iron sharpens a dull iron. It's a designer sharpens iron. It doesn't say as a good man sharpens a bad man. No, it says so one man sharpens another. Here's the idea, here's the point, doesn't you do not have to be perfect. You don't have to have all that answers. You don't have to have everything figured out in order to see and sharpen the people around you. That's not what he called us, that he didn't call us into perfecting everything and then speak, no, he called us into experiencing him. And it's sharing out of the overflow.

So let me give you a question. Okay, a question you can start with to begin and putting some legs to this in your life that color, there's no way, man, there's no way I can disciple and develop others well. Remember you're not in this alone. So let me give you a starting point. Okay? Here's a question for you, just for this fall, for the next few weeks, next few months, who in your life can you have honest presence with? Who can you have an honest presence with in your life? Here's why I use that phrasing, honest presence. Scripture calls us to have the difficult conversations, right? James talks about and calling our brothers back from sin and destruction. Well, we need people, we need people in our life that can look us in the eye and call us on our jung. Just kids in here, so call us on our bad things, right, call us on our our difficult choices, can have the difficult conversations, can look us in the eye and say hey, listen, if you continue down this path, you're gonna find destruction. And we need to have those conversations with people. We need to be willing to have those difficult, honest conversations with people. We say hey, listen, that's not what you want, let me tell you what I see good in your life, to have those honest difficult real conversations. Honest presence, because listen, this is a journey together.

Elijah, when he began to pour into the life of Elisha, the prophet that would replace him, he didn't stay on the mountain and point and direct. When Jesus called his 12 apostles, he didn't stay on the mountain and point and direct. No, they came down into life with them and they walked together. That's what discipleship, that's what development looks like. Right, when we walk in this journey together, when we grow together. Who can you have honest president, who can you walk with in this, and start there? Maybe it's one relationship, maybe it's two or three friends, start there, and begin to have honest conversations about what God is showing you, but what you're struggling with, but what you're seeing, where you're growing. Start there.

Now, as we kind of wrap up and step into a moment of worship here, okay, let me, let me step back and and let's think again about the moment on the mountain with Elijah. Because as Elijah was on the mountain, he was in the cave, he was hiding. God had a word for Elijah that would continue the work, right, he intended to move through Elijah to anoint the next generation. But before God moved through Elijah, he moved in him. Before God spoke through Elijah, he spoke to him. Jesus had to work to do, to a point the apostles, to grow, to develop, to disciple the apostles, but before he began that, he was on the mountain with God where God spoke to him. And so it's true that God intends to speak and move through you, but before that, God will speak to you. God will speak to you before he speaks through.

And so you have a moment here, right? So just be in the presence of God. Maybe you feel like you're on a mountaintop right now. Maybe you feel like you're hiding in a cave right now. But you have a moment to be in the presence of God, to let him speak in your life, to let them speak into your pain and your struggles and your wins and your difficulties, to let them speak into your journey, to move in your story. Don't miss it. That's my, my hope for you, that you don't miss it. And look, obviously, just because of worship song in doesn't mean that God quits moving, that's not the case. But before you get into the rest of your day, the rest of your weekend, you've got just a few minutes here, with nothing else going on, to be in the presence of God, and let him speak in into you, I don't miss them.

Let me pray for us. We'll recovery, God, I thank you for this space, for the opportunity to be in your presence, to be with your people. What I pray that you will move and incredible, cotton and undeniable ways, whether that is loud, obvious, in our face, or it's just a still small voice. I pray that you will move, that you will speak, that you will draw us out of the caves, that you will call us down from the mountains. And that you will use us in the lives of the people around us, God, that we'll have the boldness to follow you there. I pray that you'll guide us, that you'll be glorified in this moment. All things we ask your name. Amen.