Vision Weekend 2012 - Make disciples … multiply leaders #dumcMY #sermon #fb

Pastor Dr Daniel Ho, New Year 2012
Mat 28:19  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
2Ti 2:1-7  You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  (2)  And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.  (3)  Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  (4)  No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer.  (5)  Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.  (6)  The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops.  (7)  Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.
This New Year is going to be a great year. It is going to be better than the year before. Tiap-tiap hari, God is good. God is good, tiap-tiap hari.
2011 is about building depth and lay strong foundation to prepare for what is to come. The Word of God continues to be crucial in the foundation.
Forecasts around the world do not paint a pretty picture. We don’t know what the future holds but we know who holds the future. Pastor Daniel challenged us to fast 1 meal a day for the next 14 days. Malaysia badly needs prayer.
2012 is to build distance and to build a structure that lasts.

1. Making disciples
2. Developing leaders
3. Serving a certain kind of culture

The call to make disciples

Character of a disciples

A learner, pupil, a follower

Mar 1:16-18  As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  (17)  Come, follow me, Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."  (18)  At once they left their nets and followed him.
The word disciple and the word discipline came from the same root word. A disciple is a discipline person. To this end, DUMC has designed a few things for us.

Firstly, the CG. Over 200 leaders have been raised up throughout the years. Secondly, the SOL, to train us up as strong follower of Jesus Christ. We also have many conferences, the first being the Miracle Rally with Rev. Dr. Colton in Jan. This year, the ASOL (the Advanced School of Leadership) begins. This is done in partnership with the Malaysian Theological Seminary.

“When Christ calls a man He bids him come and die.” ~ The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

The Greek for disciple is μαθητής (mathetes or martyr). For those who want to follow Christ, there is a price to pay.



In the 20th century, there are more Christian martyrs than the past centuries.
Pastor Daniel mentioned a Chinese martyr, Wang Zhi Ming, who is commemorated together with Bonhoeffer.

Cost of bring Jesus’ disciples

“Full blooded”
Luk 9:57-58  As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."  (58)  Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Jesus told those who wanted to follow him that there are uncertainties. But following the creator of the universe is better than anything else.

Luk 9:59-60  He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."  (60)  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

Jesus was not saying we should not take care of our loved ones but rather to impress upon his disciples the urgency of preaching the Gospel.

Luk 9:61-62  Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."  (62)  Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

Jesus was not suggesting we abandon our families without saying goodbye. He wanted us to focus.

Pastor Daniel then told the story of Sun Yat Sen.
Luk 14:25-26  Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:  (26)  If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.
Jesus was not telling us to hate our family. The Bible is very clear that we are to love our parents, in fact we need to honour them. However, sometimes our parents can get in the way because they oppose our faith.

How can one’s belief be legislated by law? Faith is something real, genuine to an individual. What a tragedy it is to have the government or parents infringe on our belief?
When it comes to the crunch, our love and devotion to Jesus must be supreme to anything else. It’s like a love-hate relationship.

Consequence of such discipleship

• It is critical – the stakes are high and hence the cost is high. Human souls are eternal.

Joh 10:10  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

Are we living the live we should be living? Our life has been corrupted and Jesus can restore it. The enemy has come to kill, steal and destroy. The enemy tries to break relationships.

An American communist wrote the following letter to break up with his love interest.

We Communists have a philosophy of life which no amount of money could buy. We have a cause to fight for, a definite purpose in life. We subordinate our petty, personal selves into a great movement of humanity, and if our personal lives seem hard, or our egos appear to suffer through subordination to the party, then we are adequately compensated by the thought that each of us in his small way is contributing to something new and true and better for mankind.
There is one thing in which I am in dead earnest and that is the Communist cause. It is my life, my business, my religion, my hobby, my sweetheart, my wife and mistress, my bread and meat. I work at it in the daytime and dream of it at night. Its hold on me grows, not lessens as time goes on.
Therefore, I cannot carry on a friendship, a love affair, or even a conversation without relating it to this force which both drives and guides my life. I evaluate people, books, ideas, and actions according to how they affect the Communist cause and by their attitude toward it. I’ve already been in jail because of my ideas and if necessary, I’m ready to go before a firing squad.

If a communist can be so committed and dedicated to his cause, how about us as Christians?

• It is the only way to save the world

1Ti 2:5-6  For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,  (6)  who gave himself as a ransom for all men--the testimony given in its proper time.
We should be doing it unashamedly. Having Jesus in our life should be the best thing that has happened in our lives. How then can we not reach out to our family, friends and colleagues?

• The only way to transform the world

Php 2:14-16  Do everything without complaining or arguing,  (15)  so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe  (16)  as you hold out the word of life--in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

Pastor Daniel shared another quote, taken from Paiz Et Liberte, a French Communist publication.

The Gospel is a much more powerful weapon for the renewal of society than is our Marxist philosophy. All the same, it is we who will finally beat you. We are only a handful, and you Christians are numbered by the millions. But if you remember the story of Gideon and his three hundred companions, you will understand why I am right. We Communists do not play with words. We are realists, and seeing that we are determined to achieve our object, we know how to handle the means. Of our salaries and wages we keep only what is strictly necessary; we give up the rest for propaganda purposes; to this propaganda we also consecrate “all our free time and part of our holidays.”
You, however, give only a little time and hardly any money for the spreading of the Gospel of Christ. How can anyone believe in the supreme value of this Gospel if you do not practice it, if you do not spread it, and if you sacrifice neither time nor money for it?
Believe me, it is we who will win, for we believe in our Communist message and we are ready to sacrifice everything, even our life, in order that the social justice shall triumph. But you people are afraid to soil your hands.

We are each given a rubber band. (We have not gotten ours. We will get one at home if we don’t get one.)
We will put it on our left hand. We will apply the honesty policy. We start the year with a clean slate. Every time over the next 7 days, every time we make a complain or argue, we transfer it to the next hand. If for the whole day, we don’t complain, we transfer it back to the left hand. There is redemption. Next weekend, we will look at one another’s wrist.

If you and I at home, at our workplace do not complain, mumble nor argue but seek to shine for Jesus, and not just for 7 days, we will shine like stars and make a great impact.