Living with Intention: Discipleship Through Love and Compassion

1) "Are we living with intention? Are we leaving some space for the Holy Spirit to work? Or are we just going about the day, about our business, to accomplish what's on our list to do? How many of you had a great week? How many of you had a stinky week? How many of you, it was rough, but you persevered through it and all that, right? Okay. Yeah, I like when somebody asks how I'm doing. You know, it's just like I'm good and challenged, right? So, you know, because I am. And I know, like, this week, I don't know, it was tough sometimes. And just sometimes it felt like the hits kept coming." [00:00] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2) "We have this commission, this command, this thing that we're supposed to be doing and following. He didn't say go and make churches just to make churches. He didn't say go and make converts. He said go and make disciples, those that will follow me, that they will pattern their life, their thinking, their actions, their way of life after me, and then they will go and do the same thing. That all of us are going, we're making copies of the original. And it's easy for us to get caught up in life and forget that we have this mission." [05:34] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3) "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God who sent me and from finishing his work. You know the saying. Four months between planting and harvest. But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. Everybody just look around you. Look around you. Look it out there, right? Or if you won't, because you don't like being told what to do, which I totally understand. I totally get it. Just picture it though, right? Like, wake up and look around, he says. Wake up and look around. Wake up and look around, he says, right? The fields are already ripe for harvest." [08:19] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4) "Parenting requires intentionality. It does. It requires intentionality, whether we do it or not, right? I think we try, like I think we, to the best of our ability. Listen. There is no perfect parent. Except for these two right here. I want to be clear right now. These two, right? And they'd be the first to tell you. They weren't perfect parents. We weren't perfect parents. And you know, we're, we're all trying. Like we're, we're raised and we're raised by people that do the best that they know how we go. And then we try to take that. We try to improve on it. We do the best. And we make a whole bunch of other mistakes, right? It just is what it is. It's the grace of God, though, working in all of that, even in our imperfection." [13:44] (46 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5) "When you're mothering and fathering, and I would say the same applies, it's very similar to discipling others. That you're coming to God. You're coming alongside as a mother and a father and that you are, you catch a vision for who they are. God, show me who this person is. Show me beyond the pain and the hurt, whatever it is, to who they've really made, that you've made them to be. The reality is, oftentimes, people are not acting as who God's made them to be. They're acting from the place of pain and hurt and not having a vision. And we get the privilege of coming alongside and going, this is who you really are." [16:45] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6) "You don't have to be perfect and have it all together to come to Jesus. And you don't have to be perfect and have it all together to begin the process of leading others to Jesus and discipling them. Because if that's what you're waiting for, you'll never get to it. Honestly, I think there's something incredible about leading people when you're in your own messes that demonstrates hope to them. That even in the midst of my... My messes and my imperfections still, that God's still working in me. I think it actually gives hope to others that they can follow Jesus too." [27:52] (34 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7) "So if we were to live with the opposite, there's people to see, there's places to go, and as a result, there'll be things to do. And he's able to supernaturally increase our time, right? And that we still get the things done. But I think there's something about living with margin in our life that's so critical. Because it's in the margin. It's in the margin that we've left time and space for the waiting on the Lord, right? It's the still, silent, you know, that's what Dave and Sherry were talking about, like, Thursday night. It's like this leaving place, and like, living from that place again, that we forget. It doesn't even have to be a long time. Honestly, a minute with Him, just taking a minute to find His eyes, can reset us in an instant." [22:29] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8) "And so, Jesus was intentional. Think about this. Jesus could distinguish between crowds and disciples. He took the disciples with Him wherever He went. He got them alone to teach them. He demonstrated to them. He sent them. He corrected them. He gave them second chances. He didn't worry about what others thought. How many of you know that other people can be critical of those you are raising? I don't know if you've experienced that before, but you're doing the best you can to partner with God to parent your children. And you know them. You know their heart. You know the pain and the hurt that they've experienced. You're trying to guide them and navigate them." [17:46] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9) "And so, each person is different, but we're looking for the moments. Do you realize, like, the moments happen naturally? I loved how Lisa and Chelsea were talking about that. That our teachers back there, they have a plan, they have a lesson, but they're looking for the moments because there are these God moments all the time. And when we're leading with intentionality, when we're serving people with intentionality, we find the moments, the teachable moments. And it's the moments to speak into their lives. We're utilizing those. And those moments are the wins and celebration, but they're also the hurt, loss, and disappointments." [17:46] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10) "And so when we meet and we interact with people, what are our intentions when we meet people? Like, so first of all, when we're out in everyday life. We're at the job, we're at the store, whatever. Like, are we living with intention? Are we leaving some space for the Holy Spirit to work? Or are we just going about the day, about our business, to accomplish what's on our list to do? I mean, if I'm honest, right? Like, I've got things to do, places to go, people to see. Say that again, though. I have things to do, places to go, people to see. Maybe I have people to see, places to go. And as a result, there will be things to do." [21:36] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)