Video Transcript: The Cry For Spiritual Fathers and Mothers: Chapter 3 It’s Time to Grow Up
Let's look at Matthew 9, and I like to read starting in verse 35 and just get a feel what happened in Jesus' day, how this applies to house church planting, how this applies to being a spiritual father or spiritual mother. In chapter 9:35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages. He was teaching in the synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every sickness and every disease. Amazing time. All the miracles were happening, as all the people were watching Jesus following him, just fantastic. And in verse 36 says, When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them. That's such a key planting House churches, we don't start house church because we want to start some new thing. We started. We have a compassion God gave us for people. We just want to see people's lives change. We want to see people grow closer to Jesus. This is when he saw the crowds. He had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Now here we go again. Sheep needs shepherds. That's why we need to start churches. That's why we need to start house churches. There are millions of people in this world, millions who have come to Christ and that solidly connected to a church. So we look at planting a house church. First of all, we're looking at the unsaved, or come into the kingdom, become part of the house church. But also, there could be many people who they've made a commitment to Christ, but they haven't really grown much. I understand that when I was age 11, I made a commitment to Christ. I grew very little until I was 18, made a fresh commitment to the Lord, and then got involved in a small group Bible study, kind of a house fellowship. And that changed my life, and I've never been the same since. So he says, here they were helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. We need shepherds. Then he said to his disciples, who's willing to see in verse 37 the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore to send out workers into his harvest field. So we need to pray the Lord, there's a harvest. We need workers for the harvest. So as you're praying, you want to start a house church. As you're praying, ask God for two kinds of people, asking for labors for the harvest, asking for new believers to come into the kingdom of God. If you have all these new believers, and you're the only mature one, it's gonna be very difficult. You can only disciple so many people, because most house church leaders are bi vocational. They have an enterprise of some kind, they have a job of some kind, they have a business of some kind. So we obviously need labor through a harvest. Now, it's interesting what happened when you go to the next verse, which is chapter 10:1, he then called His 12, gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and heal every disease and every sickness. Now, who were the ones that he had called he had who were the ones who were the harvesters? Well, the harvesters initially, they were simply those who were with him. So when you have a house fellowship or house church, and you're starting you become a spiritual father, spiritual mother, and you're training others become a spiritual fathers, and others, they will be the harvesters for the next generation. I
believe we're living in a time in history when God's going to pour out his Spirit in amazing ways. I know that the Joel prophecy that was confirmed in Acts 2, in the last days, God says, I'll pour out my spirit in all flesh. Sons and daughters were prophesied. Young men will see visions, old men will dream, dreams. I know some of that was fulfilled. Then I know there are other times in history, church history, where there's great revivals where God did that again. I believe he's saving the best for last, but I believe we're in a season right now where the Lord is doing he say, look, there's a harvest coming. Prepare the fields, prepare the people, the labors, prepare the barn, so to speak, for the harvest is coming. So I grew up a farm boy, and there's these farming analogies have helped me so much. And in the winter, where I live is there's lots of snow. Often we've had snow up to the top of our door. And be good and get out of our house in the summer, it's very hot, but harvest time is summer. Springtime. We plant. We have four seasons here in America where I live. And in the springtime you plant, you plant the crops. In the summer, they grow end of summer and beginning of fall's when you have harvest time, then you're going to the depths of winter. Was very, very difficult, very, very cold. But you know what happened when I was young, my father, who's in charge of the farm, and I was helping him on the farm, he's allowed. We got to get them. We got to get the barns prepared. We have to get the equipment prepared. We get the barn ready, because next summer there will be a harvest. So I mean, now's the time to prepare for the harvest. Now's the time to take the metal from the Lord, to be a spiritual father, spiritual mother, and begin to train others to do the same. You know, we can take them through CLI we can take them through Bible schools, all those things that are extremely important. But they also need personal mentoring. They need they need to watch you be a spiritual father, you be a spiritual mother, and then they'll also be learning to do the same thing. So now's the time that we're preparing the way for the harvest, that God's gonna bring our belief to our planet, that we can trust him to do that. So but it now's the time to prepare for the harvest is coming now let Me talk to you a bit more about get a bit deeper into what it means to be a spiritual father or a spiritual mother, because this is something we model God the Father modeled for us, Jesus, modeled it. Paul modeled it. Paul had Timothy and Titus and Aquila and Priscilla and Silas. He had all those that he mentored in their mentoring the next generation. See God isn't just calling, many of you to start a house church, he's called you start a house church that starts house churches, that starts house churches. But everyone needs leadership, and those in leadership, maybe those who have this call from God to be just the love people have compassion for people be a spiritual father and spiritual mother. They say, what is a spiritual father? Rather look like when, many ways, a spiritual fathers, like a natural father, a lot of ways, a natural father is a protector to the family, is a counselor to the family. God doing his is children, and like a mother office, I mean spiritual mother, obviously
much the same. And if children lack a role model, both naturally and spiritually, often it's difficult for them to achieve their destiny. So we want to see this curse of fatherlessness that we've been talking about the last few sessions. We've seen this broken. This curse has come in this generation. But God, God says, last days I'm going to change hearts, turn the hearts of fathers to children, children, the fathers. I want to be on board with what God the Father is doing. So my heart can also, also be changed. Yeah, there's a term we use in America. It's called absentee dads. It's when there's no father in the family, the absentee dads. And, you know, I find there's a lot of absentee dads in the church, and God wants to change that house. Church is a simplistic model for us to see spiritual fathers and mothers we release. So what God's doing today. God is restoring a sense of responsibility for us, not just to be great teachers or, you know, many pastors, all they think about is what we have to get a sermon, we have to have a staff, and all those things and and that may be part of it for you, depending what God's called you to do. But there's much deeper so relationship with God, a relationship with those disciples, those spiritual sons and daughters that God's given us this their scriptures all over the Bible verses, all the Bible who talk about this, I'm gonna continue to give you some of these scriptures. One would be Psalm 68:6. God sets the lonely and family. They usually think that's speaking of the orphan. Well, it is for their many spiritual orphans, and God wants a certain in families. I'd be where the most productive families could be, the family of God, which comes to a house church. A house church family, because God is restoring family to his church. I remember being in Eastern Europe one time driving the airport with a man who had been involved in seeing God do amazing things in the nation. But he said, praise God. Finally, at this point in my life, he said, God's brought spiritual fathers into my life because something had shifted, something had changed. There are many examples of spiritual fathers and mothers in the scriptures. For example, Jesus of 12, or Jesus Peter, James and John the three. There's Paul to Timothy, Elijah to Elisha. There's Moses to Joshua. Again, the list can go on and on, and you see this family connection in the Old Testament and also in the New Testament. And of course, in the Old Testament, you have the tribes and the clans and the families. In the New Testament, your people met in house to house, as I we keep say, talk about the 20:20 vision Acts 20:20 Paul said, I met you publicly. And then he said, I administer publicly. And also he said to you, house to house, but bottom line is this all built on relationship? I've been asking a young generation, everywhere I love, a younger generation, I've been asking them, What are you looking for in the church today, what are you looking for? And they tell me and did hang on their culture. You might say that in a different way. Four basic things, if you're a young person, you see, if this does not apply to you see, number one, looking for relationship. They want real Christianity. With this real relationship. They don't want you to be part of a of a meeting or a system.
Number two, they say, I want Authentic Christianity. I want people to be real. I want this to be authentic. Number three, they say, I want the freedom to be creative. House church is extremely open for creativity. Because every house church, even though there some common denominators, they all look different in that so creativity, obviously is expressed there. And number four, interesting enough. Young men and women tell me I'm looking for intergenerational connections. I was someone. Just recently, someone told me, I want someone to tell me what to do, but I want someone to be there to bounce things off of and be there to mentor me and help me fulfill where God's place placed in my life. Now here's the blessing of it all, spiritual fathering and spiritual mothering means each of these needs and house church is a great new wineskin that'll cause these needs to be met in the younger generation. But house church isn't just for the young, it's for all generations. And I'm so glad you're part of this course, so we can learn more about this. Now let's turn to I John. I John 2:12-14. I'm going to read. This, make a few comments on it, and then we're gonna come back in the next session and really dig into this. I John 2:12-14. I write you dear children because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. I write you fathers because you've known him is from the beginning, I write you young men because you've overcome the evil one. I write you dear children, because you've known the Father. I write to you fathers because you've known him is from the beginning. And I write you young men because you're strong and the word of God lives in you and you've overcome the evil one. Now we see in this scripture, just these verses 12, 13, and 14, three different categories of believers. In Jesus Christ, we see spiritual babies, spiritual children. We see spiritual young men, I'd say young men and young women. And we see spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers. Now the goal is that both naturally and spiritually, that we all get to the place will become followers and mothers. But the truth is, most churches, even some house churches, I must admit, most churches, whether mega churches, especially there, I see this even many community churches and some house churches, I find that many in the church are either spiritual children or their spiritual young men or women, with very few spiritual fathers or mothers. Now we're to talk in the next session about how someone, if their spiritual child, they can be trained to become a spiritual young man, a woman, if they're a spiritual young man, a woman, how they can be trained and how they be encouraged and exhorted to become a spiritual father in a spiritual mother, because that's the cry of God's heart that we become a spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers to this generation and again, house church is an amazing wineskin for this to be accomplished