1 Samuel       1:1 – 2:11

Key Verse                  1:11

* Hannah’s  prayer and the birth of Samuel (1:1-18)

1.   Describe Elkanah‘s family. What does this family show about the life in those days? (Judg 21:25; 1 Sam 3:16) When were the most difficult times for Hannah?  What did she do in these times?  What can we learn from her? (1 Jn 5:14,15; Mk 11:24)

2.   How and why was she misunderstood by Eli, the priest?  What shows her faith? How did God answer her prayer?  Why did she name her son Samuel?

* Hannah keeps her vow (1:19 – 2:11)

3.   How did Hannah keep her vow?  What do you think about her decision of faith to dedicate her only son to God?

4.   How did God bless Hannah when she kept her vow?  What can we learn about God’s character through Hannah’s prayer?

Program for the Summer Bible Conference 2010 in Moscow

slides of the seminars of the 1st European New Generation Leadership Forum can be viewed here.

John 1:35-51
Key verse 1:39

„‘Come,’ he replied, ‘and you will see.’ So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.”

Introduction

In today’s passage we learn who Jesus’ first disciples were, how they met Jesus and their confession of faith „we have found the Messiah“. When they met Jesus, they preached that Jesus is the Messiah. Let us learn more about Jesus and about witness of first disciples.

Let us pray that we may become good Bible teachers, great shepherds for European students, Jesus’ humble disciples and global leaders.

1. Come and see (35-42)

Look at verses 35-36. „The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, ‘Look, the Lamb of God!’“ John the Baptist was last prophet of Old Testament. He preached the baptism of repentance to prepare the way for Jesus the Lord. He became known as the forerunner of Jesus. John witnessed to people that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes sins of world on himself.

Next day John was there again with his two disciples. He saw Jesus and told them again: „Look, the Lamb of God!“ Look at verse 37. What happened when he witnessed? „When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.” These disciples were apostles Andrew and John, the author of gospel. From this we learn how to become true Jesus’ disciples. We have to witness Jesus.

Everything begins with witness. Can you imagine what would have happened if John the Baptist didn’t witness? We would have had no apostle John or Andrew. We would have had no apostle Peter, because he was the brother of Andrew. And we would have had no John’s gospel. It means I would have nothing to talk about today. I think that Christoph Tornau would have same problem tomorrow. Many people among you are new generation. You are here today. One day somebody would say that he witnessed you here today.

Look at verse 38. „Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, ‘What do you want?’ They said, ‘Rabbi’ (which means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’“ „What do you want?“ It looks like simple question. But for Jesus it had special meaning. Jesus wanted to know their motivation clearly and goal for following. Most of people came to Jesus just to be cured from their illnesses or to watch miracles. When disciples asked, „Rabbi, where are you staying?”, they were seeking for truth. They wanted to stay with Jesus and see, whether he is truly the Lamb of God.

Look at verse 39. „‘Come,’ he replied, ‘and you will see.’ So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.” Tenth hour is 4:00 pm. This means that Jesus invited them to visit him. Who seeks the truth and wants to know Jesus, will see him. They stayed one day with him and heard the Word of God. They opened their spiritual eyes and found the Messiah. They tasted God’s kingdom.

Look at verses 40-41. „Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (that is, the Christ).” After he personally met Jesus, Andrew believed that Jesus is the Messiah. So, he first found his brother Simon and said to him: „We have found the Messiah.” For the Hebrew Messiah means the Savior of the world. Messiah is the one who saves people from their sins. He is the answer for everyone. Jesus is the solution to all our life problems. We have to come to Jesus and find the Messiah who saves us from our sins.

Look at verse 42 what Andrew did: „And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas (which, when translated, is Peter).’” At that time Peter was an ordinary fisher, but Jesus saw in him the hope of God. Jesus sees the hope of God in everyone of us. When Jesus’ disciples met the Messiah personally, their life has completely changed. An ordinary fisher became a great fisher of men. Children of darkness became children of light. Unknown young men became global leaders and well-known Bible teachers.

Three years ago I was a second year student of systems engineering. I worked as a technician in University and studied hard for whole day. In the evening I usually went out for beer or apple juice with my friend Táňa. After that I spent my time with my computer whole night. I felt lonely and meaningless. I saw my parents get divorced and I asked to myself about the meaning of my life. Sometimes when I was sad, I walked on the street in the night until the next morning. I began to think about dropping school, going back to hometown and asking for the job as a librarian again.

But God loved me. In spring 2007, somebody knocked my door. Msn. Hannah Shin and msn. Joshua Kang invited me to Sunday worship service. I wondered how they could know me. The fact was that they knocked every door in my dormitory and I was the first one who opened.

Come and see. When I visited first UBF worship service, I was so surprised. Msn. Hannah Shin delivered an interesting message. Everybody was happy that I came and they loved me. They even allowed me to sing. ♪♫♪

Come and see. From that time on I started to attend our worship service and study the Bible with msn. Hannah Shin. I attended the Czech Spring Bible Conference in Český ráj. Through messages and life testimonies I accepted the Word from Mark 8:29, Peter’s confession „You are the Christ”. I accepted that Jesus is my Messiah, my Lord and my Savior.

God really blessed me. He gave me God’s hope and a new life in Christ and many new friends. From a lonely and depressed unknown technician who had no faith and no desire for study, he changed me into a successful student with a new spiritual identity as a Bible teacher and a source of blessing for czech ministry. By God’s grace I’m preaching here now as a Global leader.

I would like to tell you, if you are alone, if you are sad and depressed, if you have no vision and meaning of life, or you are seeking for the truth – Come and see.

If Andrew didn’t confess to his brother Peter, Peter would have not met Jesus. If he didn’t confess to his brothers he would not have become a disciple of Jesus. In the same way we have to confess to students about Jesus’ gospel. I must testify to Czech students that Jesus is the Messiah, as Andrew did: „I found Messiah. Come and see.” and invite them to our worship service in order to let them hear the word of Jesus. In our ministry in Czech we pray for brothers Tomás, Dan, Pavel, and sisters Jana, Alena, Kristýna and Katka.

When we visit students each week and we invite them to Bible study, it seems to be crazy, but God is pleased with it. Being a shepherd means to lead people to God. I must preach the word of God like Andrew, because I have found the Messiah. Then I can be a disciple of Jesus.

2. You will see greater things (43-50)

Look at verse 43: „The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’” When Jesus saw Philip, Philip looked like a smart, elegant and intellectual leader but he was a little negative-minded and very selfish. He needed training. So Jesus said to him: „Follow me.” Then Philip found Nathanael and told him about Jesus based on the Old Testament. Look at verses 45-46. „Philip found Nathanael and told him, ‘We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ ‘Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?’ Nathanael asked. ‘Come and see,’ said Philip.”

Jesus called Philip, saying, ‘Follow me.’ When Philip followed Jesus, he recognized him as the Messiah. When Nathanael heard that Jesus is from Nazareth, he rejected him because Messiah had come from the city of David. But Philip did not argue with him. He just said: „Come and see!”

We know this situation very well. When we invite the students they usually say: „But I don’t believe in God.” „I was on several worship services and I slept every time.” „I don’t like worship services.” „I am an atheist.” What they truly mean is: „Can anything good come from this?” What should we say to them? „Come and see! You will like it.”

Look at verse 47. „When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him: ‘Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.’” Nathanael wondered how Jesus could know him. Jesus replied: „I saw you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael was amazed by Jesus’ supernatural knowledge.

Let us see what he declared in verse 49-50,: „Then Nathanael declared, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.’ Jesus said, ‘You believe I told I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.’” When Nathanael met Jesus personally, he found that Jesus is the Son of God. His problem of disbelief was solved. But that was just the beginning, the greater things just should come.

That’s same with us. We met Jesus personally. Therefore the word of God has to be delivered through us. Then we can become global leaders and see Portugal, Russia, England, Belgium, USA, Germany and Czech Republic to be a shepherd nation and Europe to be missionary sending continent.

Before that we have to meet the Messiah personally and then make the confession of faith.

In today’s passage, we learned that we need to meet Jesus personally as his first disciples and that we have to make confession, that we have found the Messiah. „Jesus is the Son of God. He is my Lord and Redeemer, who saved me from sin.” „Come and see!” „Come and you will see.”

John 15: 1 – 10
Key verse 15: 5

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Yesterday we studied the power of one by one bible study. God conquered the province Asia and the Roman Empire by the intensive bible study of Paul in Ephesus and Rome. We thank God that we are allowed to be bible teachers and have a great vision like Paul for our generation.

John 15 is a part of Jesus’ farewell address which He delivered only to His disciples shortly before His death on the cross. Jesus is the vine and we are His branches. “Remain” is the most important word of this message. Only if we remain in Him we can receive the pruning of God and we can bear much fruit as bible teachers, disciple makers and global leaders.

Part I: Jesus, our true vine

1. Jesus is the vine and we are His branches (1)

Let’s have a look at verse 1: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.” In the Old Testament Israel is pictured as vineyard of God. God had planted it working diligently to bear good fruit. But it yielded bad ones (Jes 5: 1.2). Israel should be a kingdom of priests for all people (Ex 19:5.6) but they became idol worshippers. Therefore God planted Jesus as the new vine into this world through His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. In John 1:4 we read:”In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” We should know that only Jesus is the true vine and the true and eternal life is only in Him. Some people think that they can live for themselves. It’s ignorant to think that our lives belong to us. We must firmly believe that Jesus is the true vine and that we are His branches. 

2. Pruning and cleaning to bear fruit (2)

God is our vine gardener. He wants to see fruit. Let’s look at verse 2: “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” Actually, it is a natural process that a branch bears fruit. A good branch will automatically bear good fruit. Matthew 7: 18.19 say: “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” So a branch without fruit is sick. The vine gardener has to cut it radically, because they take away the nutrients from the good branches.

After the gardener has finished this, He cares for the good branches which already bear fruit. Verse 2b says: “while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” Even the good branches have to be pruned to bear more fruit. This is discipleship training.

Jacob was a man full of selfishness. But His good shoot was that He wanted to receive God’s blessing. But his worldly shoots grew large, especially His shoot to marry the woman of his dreams and his longing for wealth. But God pruned him through people who were even more selfish. Through the never-ending stress among his quarreling women and children he was humbled. Finally God cut away his ego. This was like a surgery, but after coming out of this surgery Jacob wasn’t Jacob, the cheater, anymore but he became Israel.

When we are pruned, we feel like dying. But pruning is absolutely necessary to bear more fruit. Therefore we should not think humanistically, but see God’s love. God prunes us because He loves us. He prunes us because He wants us to be good bible teachers and global leaders.

At the campus we meet many sheep who are good branches which are ready to follow Jesus. But the young people of our generation have many shoots like the Internet, parties or worries about their studies which are taking away all strength of the good branches. God has called us as shepherds and spiritual leaders. We cannot allow that they remain unpruned. We must help them to receive the pruning to seek God’s kingdom first.
 
3. The fruit.

What concrete fruit God wants us to bear? There are both inner and outer fruit. Galatians 5:22.23 say about the inner fruit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

The first fruit is love. When I came to study the bible I was overwhelmed by the love of the coworkers among each other. The love of the disciples among each other is a sign that they are Jesus’ disciples. Earlier the disciples were full of competition spirit. But after Jesus washed their feet, John was able to begin to love Mathew and they were able to work together for world mission. The love among our first generation ancestor missionaries is also a sign of Jesus. As the new generation we must also have this sign of love so that the world can see that we are the disciples of Jesus.

The outer fruit is that we are able to lead students to the word of God and to Jesus. Sh. Ales told us that there is a cherry tree in the garden of M. Hanna Shin. They can have a cherry-stone spitting contest together with Sh. David. Every year the tree has beautiful fruit. But how much more will this tree be fruitful after new cherry trees grew up out of these cherry-stones. The fruit of the discipleship training ministry looks the same. If we ourselves are good cherry trees, it is good. But how fruitful will our lives be when we are training disciples. This is a new dimension of being fruitful. May God raise in us the inner fruit of the spirit, especially the fruit of love. May God help us to seed out the gospel throughout Europe.
 
Part II: To remain in Jesus (4-10)

God is the gardener and he works diligently in His vineyard Europe by pruning our new generation in different ways. But receiving pruning is really hard, isn’t it? How can a man receive discipleship training? It’s simple: If we remain in Jesus, we are able to receive God’s love to bear more fruit.

1. Remain in Jesus

Let’s have a look at verse 4 and 5 together: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

No branch can bear fruit without the vine. Jesus says that it is absolutely impossible to bear fruit without remaining in him. The word “remain” out of the Greek “meno” (life relationship) is a central keyword of John’s gospel and is repeated ten times in this passage. For understanding what remaining in Jesus means we’d like to read Psalms 1:2.3: “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.“ Consciously or unconsciously we meditate on many things. Currently, all people meditate on the soccer world championship. But if we want to remain in Jesus we have to meditate on at least one word of God day and night. We also have to meditate on our daily bread. If we only meditate on God’s word during Sunday worship service, but meditate on many worldly things over the week, we are like a plant which is only watered once a week during the hot summertime. Psalms 119:20 says: “My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times.” A soul which longs for the word of God will bear uncountable fruit. We must check what is in our hearts. We must also check what is in the hearts of our sheep. Whether we bear good or bad fruit isn’t depending on our abilities or the circumstances, but whether we remain in Jesus.
 
The one who remains in Jesus will also pray to God. Verse 7 and 8 say: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” Last year we experienced the power of prayer through the preparation of the European Summer bible conference by praying 3000 times together. We must remain in Jesus by praying. Then God will give us much fruit and we will be His disciples.

I thank Jesus that I am allowed to remain in him and bear fruit. I remained in Genesis 12:2 and hold on to God that He will make me a blessing. Through Matthew 26:28 Jesus gave me His blood of the covenant. I remained in the blood by bringing my sin of looking for the recognition of people, my selfishness and my sinful desires again and again to Jesus. I thank Jesus who gave me the fruit of the heavenly kingdom and inner peace and joy. God gave me one outwardly fruit, my mother. I testified her the grace of God. At the end of her life she found peace in the blood of Jesus. Today it’s even more important for me to remain in Jesus. I want to be a shepherd but I tried to feed the sheep with my own strength. I repented. To be a branch I want to meditate on God’s word day and night. I thank Jesus who gives me all strength to bear much fruit especially disciples of Jesus.

2. We must obey God’s commands

To become good disciples and to raise disciples we also have to learn to obey God’s word. Verse 10 says: “If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” God taught His people obedience by faith over forty years by giving them training through daily bread. Our Lord Jesus is the Son of God. But – as Hebrew 5:8.9 says – even He had to learn obedience. Without learning obedience we cannot be good disciples of Jesus and remain in Jesus, not to mention to help others to grow as disciples of Jesus.
 
God’s ministry is a ministry of obedience to the Word of God starting with Abraham. Abraham was able to be a blessing by obeying the Word of God. God’s ministry through UBF during the last 50 years was a work of obedience to the Word of God, especially Jesus’ world mission command. This work of God happened because UBF concentrated on intensive bible study and raising new disciples of Jesus. Europe needs bible teachers who obey the Word of God and teach it through obedience.

Today we have learned that we are able to be fruitful bible teachers and spiritual leaders by closely remaining as a branch in the vine. Jesus gives us the promise that this way we will bear much fruit. May God bless our New Generation to remain in Jesus and be fruitful branches, bible teachers and spiritual leaders of Europe.

“Greet also the church in his house”

Thank and praise God for blessing us with this Forum for New
Generation Leadership. In this Forum, God blessed me to give a
message about “an exemplary house church.” As young spiritual
leaders we have a great spiritual responsibility toward our family,
society, nation and to the whole world. Family is the core of our
society. If we want to bring spiritual revival, we need to bring in
through family. And that can be done through raising house
churches. When God made Adam and Eve, He raised them as the
first house church, which was established to glorify God. Through
Romans 16: 3-5, we had an exemplary house-church, through the
Priscilla and Aquila’s sacrificial life, a married couple that had huge
influence on the early church. I pray that we can learn from them
what it means to be a house church and how this type of family
involved in world mission.
I. Pricilla and Aquila’s house church

At the conclusion of his letter to the Romans, Paul gives
recommendations, greetings and best wishes to the brothers who
were in Rome. In his letter led to 26 people, Paul highlights the
couple Prisca and Aquila, driving them the first greeting. Verse 3
says, “Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ
Jesus.” Priscilla and Aquila are mentioned several times in the Bible
(Ac 18:2-3,18-19,26; 1Cor 16:19; 2Ti 4:19). They were Jews from
Pontus who immigrated to Rome. They lived in Rome until A.D. 49,
when Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome. Then they
went to Corinth, where they met Paul. Like Paul, they were
tentmakers, so they worked together and stayed together. They also
became spiritual coworkers in Christ Jesus. By the grace of Jesus
Christ and through high calling, they became tent-making
missionaries.

At the time, tents trade was very important. The Roman soldiers
bought tents before heading to wars around the world. Maybe Aquila
takes care of production and his wife did the sales. They should be
prosperous. We called them self-supporting missionaries. They
were a hardworking couple, who never depended on anyone. Rather,
they supported the work of God with the participation in the
preaching and in the support material. Always maintained their
financial independence to take care of their needs.

They weren’t those people who expect others to help or think that
others should help them. But they were those who were always
ready to help others. They must have accepted Paul’s vision for
world salvation based on the word of God. Later, they followed Paul
to Ephesus, leaving their business and property behind and starting
all over again. They were Jews, but they served the Gentiles
together with Paul. All the Gentiles were grateful to them.
God blessed the faith of this couple raising them as a house
church. In Genesis chapter 2 verse 18-25, we see that God
establishes marriage as a union and unity, where the two come
together to collaborate in the mission given by God and for His
glory. The basis of marriage should be the love of Christ; both
should be as the branches attached to the vine. When we love Christ
we love each other, and together we can collaborate in his work.
Before meeting Jesus, I thought I loved people, but in reality I was a
very selfish person. I was full of me, me and mine were my keys
words. My life was really miserable. But Jesus shows me His love.
With the love of Jesus in my heart I can love others and collaborate
with them in God’s work. I thank God who helped me become
financially independent through a research grant after my Masters. I
pray that I can follow the example of Aquila and Priscilla, being a
good worker of the gospel.
II. The sacrificial spirit of Pricilla and Aquila

In the fourth verse, Paul identifies this couple as “who, for my life
risked their heads”. The association of Priscilla and Aquila to Paul
was a great risk to their lives, as Paul suffered many persecutions,
even to the point of being arrested, beaten and reviled. They risked
their lives for the sake of the Christ’ gospel. They had a life-giving
spirit and a life commitment to the work of God.

Missionary Matthew says that love is sacrifice. In John 15:13 Jesus
says “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends.”Jesus loves us so much that he gave his life for us,
dying for us to have life. This is God’s love, unconditional love and
that love doesn’t t measure the sacrifices. Priscilla and Aquila
emitted this love in their lives, risking their lives for their friends and
sheep of Christ. They opened the doors of their house to the
servants of Jesus and to serve the sheep with spiritual and physical
bread. In Acts, 19:24-28 we see how they took to their home Apollo
to feeding him with the spiritual bread. Apollo was eloquent in
preaching and knew the scriptures, but his message was based on
the baptism of John, lacking the grace of Christ’s love. Priscilla and
Aquila moved with compassion and teacher him the way of the Lord,
building him in saving faith.

Both in Corinth, Ephesus and in Rome, the Priscilla and Aquila’s
home were a house that served God, embracing the mission of
feeding the sheep, accommodating staff, serving prayer meetings
and preaching. They become good shepherd and Bible
teachers. This is the sacrificial spirit demanded by the gospel. Jesus
teaches us this spirit through several passages, particularly in John
10:11, where He says “I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd
lays down his life for his sheep.” The good shepherd is one who has
the sacrificial spirit. So a house church must have a sacrificial spirit.
III. The mean of church

Look at the verse 5, Paul says, “greet also the church in their
house.” Wherever Priscilla and Aquila went, they opened their house
to be used as a “house church”. They had a house church in
Corinth, in Ephesus, and in Rome. They gathered Christians or
truth-seekers, teaching them the word of God, and gave them
delicious food. Their house was an open door, open arms and open
hearts. Their house was also a place for coworkers’ prayer
throughout the nations. Through their house we remember Jesus’
words in Mark 11:17b, “My house will be called a house of prayer for
all nations.”

When we look at church history, there is no record of a formal
church building until the end of the second century. Rather, house
churches, like that of Priscilla and Aquila, were the whole church of
God. Notice that Paul didn’t address them as, “Aquila’s family.” He
said, “Priscilla and Aquila” –wife first. In a house church the wife’s
role is very important, because they became in mother of many.
Because of this Paul saw them with equal honor and respect.

In Matthew 16:18-19 Jesus told Peter: “Well, I tell you that you are
Peter, upon this rock I will build my church (…) I’ll give you the keys
of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth shall be
bound in heaven, and whatever you lose on earth will be turned off
in Heaven”. Through these verses we can see the truly means of
church. So the churches are the people who make the bridge
between earth and heaven, through Jesus Christ. Likewise, a house
church is the union of two persons to form a royal priesthood,
connecting earth to heaven.

At the present time, young people have great prejudice against the
concept of the Church. This bias is largely due to the formalism of
big churches. I myself was one of such young; I had a great
prejudice against the great Churches. If it didn’t have 2 house
church in Portugal, I’ll continue in darkness. So the house church is
the most effective means to bringing young’s hearts to the gospel
message. A family breaks down the formality associated to great
churches, offering a more personal and welcoming
environment. And also, a house church reveals better Christ’s love,
being an image of the kingdom of God.

Therefore God raised UBF as an instrument to raise house churches
in 90 countries where worked one thousand and five hundred
missionaries. We pray that by 2041 we can send hundred thousand
missionaries to 233 countries around the world including Islamic
countries, China and North Korea. We praise God for blessing this
ministry and use of house church greatly in the last 50 years. We
pray that God established in Portugal 12 house churches starting for
me. Amen
IV. Marriage of faith

Married by faith is one of de most great challenge for us. Like Mary
Magdalene, who poured on Jesus head an expensive perfume, we
must to pour on Jesus our hearts and then we can accept this
challenge. Marriage of faith is one of the most effective ways that
God have been use to bless all nation. We learned that a leader is
those who make difference in a time. But, only life can make
difference, we must die to other have life.

We have several examples of house church in our history, which
became a source of blessing for many. Since the patriarchs of the
faith, like Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca and Mary and
Joseph, through several missionaries families and even in UBF. All
of them have established their families based on faith and love of
God and the desire to serve. Through this passage we see the great
vision of God to use families in His redemptive work. I personally
believe that Abraham and Sarah are a proof of this view. They were
ordinary people who just had faith in God’s promise. And through
the strong arm of God, they became a source of blessing until today.
In our generation the concept of family is based on selfish
feelings. People marry for physical attraction, passion, interest or
vanity. They have no basis as the mission of God, so they can’t
maintain a marriage. Priscilla and Aquila were together with the love
of Christ, their joy was to serve God. Theirs sacrificial life is not for
self-glory, so they can love each other and to be a blessing. In such
a family develops genuine love, unselfish love. Therefore, in our
generation it is essential to have these type couple who are
sustained by faith, love and desire to commit themselves to Christ
for the mission.

When I was a teenager, I dreamed with marriage. But as I grew I saw
that the reality was far from the fairy tales, a reality marked by a
failure of marriages. Then I met Jesus personally, I realized that
marriage is a gift from God. I realized that the problem of divorce
was due to lack of knowledge of the true meaning of marriage.

However, due to my selfishness and fatalism, I continued skeptical
about this union established by God. Looking at me so miserable, I
concluded that only God, who is full of mercy and compassion, can
love me, so nobody else will be able to accept me as I am. Also due
to my self-pity I didn’t want to undergo a marriage as being
rejected. Also, I didn’t want to deny myself to accept the other -
since I always had feminist ideas. But through Matthew 19: 1-12,
Jesus has opened my heart to the faithful marriage. I personally
accept that the union of man to his wife is a gift from God and is for
His glory. I repented of my fatalism, self-pity and a proud heart for
marriage established by God.

The tradition of marriage in Portugal is a tradition where it lost the
mean of marriage established by God, therefore there is no longer a
concept of family prayer. Most couples got divorced after 5-10 years
and for every three marriages there is a divorce. This tradition
spread to all Portuguese speaking countries. So I accepted the
personal call from God to establish a house church, which can
glorify God and be an example for the young Portuguese and also
for young people from Portuguese-speaking countries

Through the life of Priscilla and Aquila we can learn that every home
can turn into a small church. A church where love of Christ must
reign, a love made of altruism, cooperation and sacrificial
spirit. Also a house is where all family life is based on faith and
turns around the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I pray that God may
establish many beautiful houses church such as Priscilla and Aquila
in our generation.

Matthew 28:16-20
Key Verse: 28:19
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

In this passage, Jesus gives his disciples their last command, to make disciples of all nations. Jesus’ last command is what he most wants us to do. I pray that through this passage, God would renew our hearts to accept Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations.

Look at verses 16 and 17. ‘Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.’’ We begin this passage in Galilee with the disciples seeing the risen Jesus again. They worshipped Jesus, accepting him as God, the true object of their worship. But even though they could see the risen Jesus some doubted. This reminds us that the disciples were ordinary, weak men like us and reassures us that in spite of this Jesus still has great hope for us as he did for his disciples.

In verse 18 Jesus declared; “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” By dying on the cross and rising again Jesus defeated the power of death crushing the head of the devil, and taking the highest position in the universe. Jesus has forgiven our sins, given us eternal life and made us children of God so like the disciples we need to recognise Jesus as God and live our lives to serve, love, and obey him.

What was Jesus’ last command? Look at verses 19, 20a. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Jesus commands us “make disciples of all nations”. In order to make disciples of all nations, the disciples had to go, baptise people, and teach them Jesus’ words. Let us think about the meaning of this command.

First, “therefore go”. The disciples were weak but Jesus commanded them, “go!” Jesus would guide them, help them and work through them. All they had to do was obey Jesus, and simply go. They were ordinary young men but they would become Jesus’ ambassadors. We are Jesus’ ambassadors called to university ministry so Jesus commands us to go to the campuses and preach the word of God to students. UCL in London is one of the world’s top 10 universities. With intelligent, successful students like these we can fear rejection or feel inadequate. Though we may be rejected, we need to go, in obedience to Jesus’ command until we find the one man or woman who God is sending us to. Sometimes when I go to UCL there is no one to talk to, other times I have great conversations with students and one day when I spoke to a student he told me he was looking for a Bible teacher. God heard my prayer for UCL students and we have been studying the Bible for two years.

Second, Jesus commanded them to go and “make disciples of all nations”. A disciple is a learner, to be a disciple of Jesus means to obey him and become like him, growing in humility, love, and patience. Jesus spent three years with the disciples teaching them the word of God and, more importantly, teaching them his life, then he sent them to preach. In order to make disciples we must first become good disciples of Jesus. This means that we need to keep on growing in the word of God. We need to spend time ourselves; reading and studying the Bible, praying and learning from Jesus how to be more like him. As disciples we must humbly return to Jesus each day so that we never forget the grace we have received from him. When we live as disciples ourselves then Jesus can use us to make disciples.

We should be very clear about what Jesus is commanding us to do. Jesus says make disciples. We know that nothing is made without effort. For example in my work it takes 7 years to teach a student until they are ready to leave school and go to university. Making disciples requires work and it requires time because it is the most valuable thing we can do with our lives. This is God’s strategy to save the whole world. We need to ask ourselves if we really believe this and if we really accept this in our hearts. Jesus is not calling us to make converts, he is not calling us just to live as good people, instead Jesus is calling us to work hard to make disciples.

Jesus took twelve very ordinary men and made them into disciples by teaching them the Bible and living with them. As Bible teachers we need to serve our Bible students in the same way as Jesus. Living with our Bible students means, spending time with them, eating with them, cooking for them, watching films or playing football together, even if we don’t like football. Like Jesus we need to get to know our disciples and through us our disciples need to get to know Jesus.

For the past year we have lived with one of my Bible students, Simon. I know how I want to serve Simon, but I have to deny myself to do the things he wants to do. I have to deny my introverted character and talk to him to get to know him. Humanly I am weak but when I root myself in him Jesus gives me the heart and the power to serve Simon and make him into a disciple.

God wants to save all people on earth by making disciples. This seems very slow and unproductive but it is God’s wisdom. Even though we may not see the fruit of our disciple making immediately, we must not despair. We must believe in the principle of disciple making. Our disciple making ministry carries enormous power and if we obey Jesus’ command to make disciples we will be used to change the history of Europe and the world.

Third, “baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” We must teach the gospel until Bible students accept Jesus as their personal Saviour. We must also help our Bible students to obey God’s word. To do this we must first obey God’s word ourselves; a good Bible teacher must first become a good student. We must teach students everything Jesus commanded, not just the good news of the forgiveness of sin and eternal life but also the cross, self denial, and God’s punishment.

Look at verse 20b. “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Jesus was sending his disciples out to make disciples but promised he would be with them. The disciples obeyed Jesus’ last command until they died and Jesus protected them and worked mightily through them. We may feel that making disciples in this generation is too tough but like the disciples we have Jesus’ great assurance; ‘I am with you always.’ When we obey Jesus’ world mission command we are under God’s care. When we obey Jesus’ command we are very precious because God can use us to save the world from sin therefore he will protect us.

When I was growing up I tried to change the world through politics, charity work and environmentalism but nothing seemed to change. Then I met Jesus and I realised that the world’s problem is sin and the only solution is Jesus. Being a Bible teacher is the greatest thing I can do with my life. It is hard work and at times I am discouraged by rejection and how slowly people change. But through this passage Jesus reminds me what an enormous privilege it is to be called and used to make disciples. Therefore I pray that God would forgive my half-heartedness and spiritual complacency and give me his heart to make disciples of Jesus among the students of Europe.

Jesus died and rose again to save us from our most fundamental problem, sin and death. Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords calls us to make disciples in all European nations and save our continent from the power of sin and death. Making disciples is difficult but it is the most valuable thing we can do with our lives. Jesus who has all authority in heaven and on earth commands us, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”