 Okay. We're all ready to start. Let's pray and let's get started. Father B, thank you for this entire week for all the students who have been here in person, those who are connected online, those who would be connecting on eLearning. B, thank you, Father, for all those who are journeying with us so that we could grow together in your word, grow together in the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Father, we commit the time we have today as we listen, as we hear, as we pray. Lord, let our lives be changed, let our lives be strengthened. Whatever needs to be done in our hearts, in our lives, we welcome your Holy Spirit to do that. Work powerfully, God, in each of our lives, wherever we are. Holy Spirit, work in us powerfully. And we just pray, God, that you will do wonders, that you will make a difference, God, in each of our lives. You will do amazing things in each of our lives. So we commit this time, Father, to you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Okay, I think we need one more book to keep this straight. Okay, so this week, let me just go ahead and share this, share my screen. I'm assuming you can all see my screen and it's visible to you. So I just want to just quickly review a few things that we are getting to some of the things that I want to share with us this morning. Um, let me ask the alabaster to understand why we are here, and why are you here. And I hope the alabaster, the reason for this, that you can hear, because you learn to be a purpose. You fulfill God's command on your life. Is that it? Is that it? Yes? No? But you are here because you learn to be a purpose. You fulfill God's command on your life. The same thing, all of your students working online, those are, listen to this later. That should be very clear. If you are here because they're having sent you, they're here because the pastor sent you, but you really didn't want to come, then this weekend was a good chance to make your decision. Okay. Is the other one? Okay, obviously not for that. Is that your name? I think we need three of them. Is that your name? Is that your name? No. Sorry about it. I'll just start again. Sorry, we just changed my laptop. Is the volume okay now? Is the volume okay? Better now. Okay. All right. Sorry about these small problems here. Let's get started. So what I was saying is, it's very important. And the reason we have this orientation week is for you to, you know, just within yourself, you become very clear why you are here. And become very clear why you are going to study in the Bible college, right? Because you could, all of us could be doing so many other things. You could maybe working somewhere or doing something else, even for those of us online. But we must be very clear that the reason I am in this Bible college and I'm going through, going to start courses and learning next week. The reason I'm doing that is because I want to be equipped to fulfill God's call on my life. That should be very clear, right? If you're here just because your pastor sent you or your family sent you or somebody told you just go, this weekend you should make a clear decision, right? I'm here to fulfill God's call and I'm going to stay here. I'm going to learn. If that is not your intent, if that is not your motivation, I would encourage you personally this week and go back home. Because it's not good. If your desire is not to be equipped to fulfill God's call, then don't, you know, I'm just saying don't waste your time, right? You need to go back home and find something else. But you should be very clear. I'm here because I want to learn. I want to be equipped. I have a call of God on my life and I'm getting ready for that. Is that okay? Right? Sorry for being straight. I'm telling you straight. But we have to be clear about this, right? Because we're going to get into some very serious things, right? We're going to spend hours every day studying the Word of God, praying, seeking God. And if that's not what you want to do, then shouldn't, right? So we are here as a college, as pastors here, as people here, our commitment is to equip you, right? To pour into your life. We want the Word of God to be established in your heart. We want the work of the Holy Spirit to increase in your life. We want to see that happen. So that's our commitment to you, right? That we are coming here to serve you. We are coming here to pour into your life and to equip you to fulfill God's call. Whatever God's call is on your life. It could be something different. That's okay. But we are here to make sure that we pour into your life. Okay? Now, how you're going to get out of this Bible college depends entirely on you. Because we are going to give 100%. We're going to do our part. But I want to encourage you. You must be like a sponge, right? That means when you take the sponge, if it is dry, but you take the sponge and put it in the water, it just soaks the water in. Correct. So you must be like a sponge. Just absorb everything that you can in the time that you are here with us. And same thing for you, all of you online. You must be like a sponge spiritually, whatever you can soak in, all the good things you just soak into your life. Right? So then when you go from here and somebody squeezes you, all the good things come out, right? All that you have absorbed here, all that you have learned here, you're able to pour out. You're able to release into wherever you go. So I want to encourage you. That must be your posture. That must be your heart. God, I want to just soak in your word. I want to soak in the work of the Holy Spirit so that wherever I go, I will be able to pour it out. I'll be able to, you know, give that to other people. Right? So that must be your heart. I'm going to soak in everything, whatever I see, whatever I hear, whatever I learn, I'm going to take it in. Now another thing, especially for those of you who are here in person, we are going to also make you do work. I think Pastor Nancy would have already shared with you. We're going to make you do things. Right? So Bible College is not about just listening to lectures. That's part of it. We're going to study the word. We're going to pray. But very important is actually doing things. Right? So we're going to make you do things. And similarly for those of you who are watching online or on e-learning, wherever you are in your local church or whichever part of the world you're in, you do something in your local church or in the ministry or opportunities that you have there. Right? So nothing should be too low for you. Right? We may ask you to sweep the floor. We may ask you to arrange the chairs. Right? And when those of you who come to the services on Sunday, we will tell you, you know, just stand and shake hands with people or smile at people or whatever, all kinds of things. Right? But this is all part of ministry. There's nothing too low for us to do. Right? And you and I have to be ready to do everything. And you're doing it as unto God. I remember when I was in one place serving them. I used to arrange the chairs. Outside I had my own ministry. I should go and preach and all of that. But in that place, I'll just quietly arrange the chairs. For me, I'm doing it to the Lord. It doesn't matter. Right? Even if I have a ministry outside, there I will go and arrange chairs. Even today, if I go anywhere, I will arrange the chairs. I will sweep the floor. I'll wash the toilet. It's nothing because whatever I do, I'm doing it for the Lord. It doesn't matter to me. Right? So there's nothing too low for us to do. We are doing it unto the Lord. That's the attitude we want you to have. That you can do anything and you will do it as to the Lord. Right? So don't think you become a vada pastor. You can't do this. No, no, no. If you become a big pastor, you should be able to wash the toilets in the church. If you cannot wash the toilets in the church, you're nothing. Okay? I don't care how big you are. I don't care what fame and name and popularity. And if you cannot do that as unto the Lord, you are nothing. You're understanding me. So we are very serious about this. Right? So when we tell you to do simple things, we tell you clean this, you know, just sweep the floor. I'll put the chairs. You do it. Don't say, huh, why are they telling me to do it? No, it's part of serving God. And in your mind, you're saying, Lord, I'm arranging these chairs for you. I'm sweeping this floor for you. I'm washing the toilet for Jesus. So that's your attitude. Are you listening? If you cannot have that attitude, please go home. Please go home. Right? If you want to stay and you want to learn how to be a minister of God, that must be your heart. You're understanding for your online students. But that's the attitude you must have wherever you are. No matter how big, if you have a church of 10,000 people, I don't care. You should be ready to wash the toilets in your church. If you're not ready to do that, you're unfit to be a minister of God. I'm telling you straight. So the point is this, our heart matters. The attitude of our heart. Don't ever think you're some big person. God may use you to speak to a million people. God may use you to speak to do big things. But your heart must be always humble before God. And you should be ready to do the simplest of things for God's kingdom as I'm doing it for Jesus. You're understanding? So we're going to train you to do those things. We'll give you different things to do. You must be ready to do it. So that's part of your training. It's not just learning the Bible and learning things of the spirit. Part of your training is to have the heart of a servant. To have the heart of a servant being ready to do anything as unto Jesus. That's part of your training. That's why we like it when you come here personally because then we can oversee that and make sure that you do those kinds of things. And those of you online, I want to encourage you, whichever local church you're part of, you go and be a servant there. You serve in your local church. Do anything and everything as unto the Lord. So just to quickly review this week, we went through the student guidelines. That's part of how we run the Bible college. And then we went through laying the ax to the root. We keep repeating this every year. So we've been doing this, I don't know, from so many years, every year orientation. We tell the students, lay the ax to the root. You come first thing, we chop, chop, chop, lay the ax. Deal with the issue of self, jealousy, pride and lust. Get rid of these things. Because these are the four big things that can destroy any person's life. Anybody's life, it can destroy. Self, if you feel I am so important, I want a big name. And it is sad to say, even in the ministry, people, I become so important. They always keep talking about I did this and I did that. And I preached that message and I went there. I wrote this book and it's all I, I, I. And they may have a big ministry. It may seem like they're very successful, but it's all about I. And that's not acceptable in the eyes of God. God says, I am the Lord, my glory, I will not give to anybody else. That's it. So we have to die to self. I must be taken out. We should not have jealousy in our hearts. We are all together. No jealousy. Let God deal with the root of jealousy pride. It's, it will cause our downfall. Pride is what caused Lucifer. I mean Lucifer, he became proud and he fell. The Bible teaches us that first Timothy chapter three and lust, uncontrolled evil desires. So constantly throughout our lives, we have to make sure that self jealousy, jealousy, pride and lust must not be in our lives. If you ever see this little root coming up again, the tree growing again, lady acts, lady acts to it again. I know maybe five years from now you graduated and God is blessing you and you may have wonderful ministry. And suddenly it's all about I, I, I remember first thing that taught me in Bible college, lay the ax to the root of I cut it out. It's not about you. It's about Jesus. Right. So never forget that. Lay the ax to the root of self jealousy, pride and lust. Then yesterday was Holy Spirit baptism. Very important because we are depending on the Holy Spirit. Right. It's not by might, not by power, but it's by my spirit. It's by the Holy Spirit that we are doing the ministry. Okay. So today what I want to spend some time with us and I don't know I might take one hour, two hours or maybe I might take all three hours. I don't know. Let's see how this goes. I want to emphasize one very important thing in the ministry in our life and in our ministry. And what we want to emphasize in this in here in this Bible college is that we must follow Jesus following Jesus. Okay. Now, you know, we purposely put up these wonderful, very nice pictures of men and women of God who have gone before us. They often are referred to as God's generals. God has used them powerfully. Previous sanctuaries and you see these store the pictures around here. It is good to know and be reminded of their testimonies about their lives, but we are not following any one of them. You understand? Right. That means, yeah, we will learn from their lives. We learn from their examples, but we are all following Jesus. Same thing here. Right. You can look at us and we will try to tell you our stories and our mistakes and our successes and we will share our life with you to the extent we can. You can look at us, but you are not necessarily following us. You can learn from our examples. You can, you know, learn from the good things you see in our lives, but we are all following Jesus and you're not following some pastor. You're not following some prophets. You're not following some apostle. You are following Jesus. Of course, you can learn from other people's lives. You can learn from their testimonies. You can learn from their story, which is a good thing. They must learn, must learn from each other, but our eyes, our focus must be on Jesus. You know, like we may say, our hero is Jesus. Our role model is Jesus. Right. Our hero is not some other pastor, apostle, prophet, teacher. No, no, no, no. We can learn from many people, men and women. We can learn from their lives, but we are all following Jesus. And that's what I want to emphasize to you and me today, that if you and I are going to boast about anybody, if you and I are going to be, you know, this is my hero. It has to be Jesus Christ. Right. So it has to be Jesus. Right. And in following Jesus, I want to talk about, you know, basically what I want to emphasize today is that first of all, our calling is to be like Jesus. That is what God is calling. God didn't call you to be like some pastor or some prophet or some apostle. He called you to be like Jesus. It's okay. You see the pastor. You learn from his good and the bad. You see the prophet you learn from his good and bad. And it's okay to learn from their lives, but God has called you and me to be like Jesus. And that must be burning inside your heart and mind. I want to be like Jesus. I'm keeping my eyes on Jesus. I'm going to look at Jesus as my example. I'm going to look at Jesus and try to imitate Jesus. Yes. I will learn from the examples of others who are also trying to follow Jesus. I will learn from their lives. But my most important is my eyes are on Jesus. So that's the first thing I want to emphasize. We'll look at scripture. And then we must follow Jesus in our lifestyle. How we live it. We have to follow Jesus. Don't try to imitate some celebrity pastor. You see some pastor is walking. He has four bodyguards, two on the front, two on the back. Maybe six, two in the front, two at the back, two on the side. Six bodyguards here. I also one day even I will do that. I'll become a vada pastor. I will have six bodyguards. Then I have... Why you want to imitate him? Imitate Jesus. Don't copy that pastor. I don't know for whatever reason he has six bodyguards. I don't know. But I can't imagine Jesus saying, Peter, you stand in front of John. Stand there. James, there Andrew, there Simon. Batholomew here. Matthew here. Six bodyguards. Jesus walking like that. I can't imagine Jesus doing that. Can't. It's not anywhere in the gospels. So don't imitate that vada pastor. You imitate Jesus. You follow Jesus in your lifestyle. You know, in our Christian world, we make celebrity pastors. Oh, that pastor is wearing white canvas shoes. I will also go buy white canvas shoes. I will wear. I think anointing is in the white canvas. It's not in the white. So we tried to copy some celebrity pastor. No, no, no. Follow Jesus in your lifestyle. Follow Jesus. And then the next session, I want to talk about following Jesus in our ministry also. Right? So these are the three things I want to just cover with us today. Explain that for us. And hopefully, you know, this will help us keep our focus very clear. That is very clear in my mind. It should be very clear in your mind that you are following Jesus. Okay. So let's get started. You know, let's go to Matthew. We look at what Jesus, the Lord Jesus himself said, if you go with me please to Matthew chapter 10. And we will look at verses 24 and 25. Matthew chapter 10 verses 24 and 25. Imagine you turn 24 and 25. Jesus said, a disciple is not about his teacher, not a servant above his master. Verse 25, it is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher and a servant like his master. I'll just stop there. So Jesus, imagine Jesus is talking to his disciples. So they have been chosen. These 12 of them, there may be other people listening, but Jesus had selected 12 people. So you be my disciples. Okay. So they feel very special. I'm a disciple of Jesus. And Jesus is telling them, I want to tell you something. The disciple is not greater than his teacher. The servant is not greater than his master. And then he says, verse 25, it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher. That is enough. That is all the requirements. That's the requirement. The disciple must become like his teacher. In this case, it's Jesus. So he's talking to his disciples. It's enough. So if you just restate this and put it in simple statement, he's telling his disciples, it's enough for you to be like me. That's all I want. That's all I want. It's enough for you. He's telling his disciples, it's enough for you to be like. It's enough for you to be like me. And that's all. That's all. So what is the call to be a disciple? It's a call to be like our teacher and master Jesus Christ, to be like him. So as a disciple, what is the journey we are making? Our journey is, I'm going to become like Jesus. That's the journey. Now hopefully this Bible college is a part of that journey to help you in that becoming like Jesus. To help you and me help us become more and more like Jesus. And that's the part of this being here, being here the journey. Our goal is to help you become like Jesus. Look chapter 6 and verse 40. Jesus explains how this is going to happen. Look 6 and verse 40. Jesus says, a disciple is not above his teacher. So the disciple is not greater than his teacher. But everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his. So now he's giving a secret. See, the call is for the disciple to become like the teacher. How is the disciple going to become like the teacher? He says everyone, as everyone of us, it can happen for us, everyone of us, everyone who is perfectly trained. So you go through a training. You go through a training. Everyone who is perfectly or thoroughly or completely fully trained, he will become like his teacher. So that's the key. We have to go through the training. And I'm not saying in three years that we will make you like Jesus. What I'm saying is these three years is part of that training. The Lord will train you himself in so many other ways. As you keep going, He will train you. But these three years is part of that training. To help you, help me become more like our teacher, like our Lord Jesus Christ. So you and I, we must give ourselves to the training. If we resist the training, oh, I don't want this. Well, if you resist the training, then you cannot become like the master. Because Jesus said, you have to be thoroughly trained. You have to be fully trained. Then you'll become like him. So if you resist, no, I don't want. I will only take this, this, but that one I don't want. If you resist even a little part of the training, then you're not being fully trained. Also, if you just give up in the middle of the training, oh, this training is too much, too difficult. Oh, I can't handle it. You quit. Well, you have to go through the training. You have to be fully trained. You have to be thoroughly trained, perfectly trained. You have to complete the training. You have to go through the training to become more and more like Jesus. I understand. So it is enough as disciples for you and me to become like Jesus. But in order to become like Jesus, we have to go through His training. And we have to be fully trained. So don't give up in the middle. Don't take few things and leave the others out. Fully, thoroughly trained. Everything. And you're becoming more and more like Jesus. Now this is the Father's plan. This is what God desires for you. What is God's plan for your life? Number one, God's first and foremost plan for your life and my life is to make me be like Jesus. How do you know? Romans chapter 8. Let's go there. Romans chapter 8. So this is God's plan for you and me. Romans chapter 8 verse 29. Actually, let's read verse 29. And yeah. Oh, 28, 29. Romans 8, 28, 29. Romans 8, 28, 29. It says, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose, for whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren. So, I know we just picked out two verses. There's a context to this, but we're just focusing on these two verses. Paul is saying, See, everything is working for good because you love God and you are called to His purpose. You are living for His purpose so everything is working for good. But what is that purpose that God is working in you and me? He says in verse 29, This is the purpose. Whom He foreknew? God knew this. This was a plan He had before. Whom He foreknew? He decided. He predestined. That means He determined beforehand. This is the plan I will have for all these people whom I call for my purpose. He predetermined that we would be conformed to the image of His Son. In other words, put in simple English. God has called you and me to His purpose and this is His purpose right from the very beginning to make us all like Jesus. I just restate verse 28 and 29 in simple English. That's what it means. And everything is working for good. That means everything is working towards this purpose to make you and me more and more like Jesus. So that's the good that we can see in every circumstance. Something happens to you. It looks bad but you will see that there is a good in that. What is the good? There's something in that that's helping you become like Jesus. Because all things are working together for good. What is the good? Help you and me become more like Jesus. And this is something God had in the beginning. All things work together for good. So something might be bad. In the natural, it may seem like it's bad. But if you look at it, hey, this is an opportunity for me to become more like Jesus. Maybe develop some patience. Maybe develop some grace. Maybe develop some humility. Maybe develop some determination. Whatever. That helps me become more and more like Jesus. That's the good that is in everything that's happening in your life. All things are working together for good. To those who love God, those who are called according to His purpose. What is His purpose? It was a purpose that He determined even before you and I were born, even before time. And that purpose was to make us all like Jesus. That's the call of God for all of us. So you see, what is God's purpose for your life? Very simple. To become like Jesus. So I'm a school teacher. Yeah, be a school teacher and be like Jesus. I'm a football player. Be a football player and be like Jesus. I'm a, I'm a, I don't know what. I'm a gardener. Be a gardener and be like Jesus. That's fine. Gardening is your profession. Being like Jesus is your calling. It's the purpose for which God has called you. Are you understanding? Okay. Be a call to His purpose. And this is what God is working in you and me to make us more and more like Jesus. That He is the eldest brother. He's the first born. He's the elder brother among many who are brothers and sisters. Okay. One more voice. I know we're coming close. Let's maybe one or two more. Let's go quickly. Second Corinthians three. Verse 18. Many of these are familiar verses for our second Corinthians three. 18. Second Corinthians chapter three. And verse 18. But we all with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as by the spirit of the Lord. So it's saying, look, our eyes are looking at Jesus. So we are all looking. What are you looking at? The glory of the Lord. So this is very important. Always keep your eyes on Jesus. Now it says, yeah, we can't see very clearly. We're looking as though in through a glass. So we can't see very clearly. That's okay. But keep your eyes on Jesus. There may be times you cannot see very clearly, see Jesus very clearly, but keep your eyes. We are beholding as through, it says mirror, but actually it's as through a glass. There's something in between. We're looking through the glass, but we're looking at the glory of the Lord. You're looking at the glory of Jesus. You're captivated by who he is. So you're not looking at, oh, I want to have a big ministry. I want to have a big church. I want to have a big name. You're not looking at those things. That is not what your gaze is on. Your gaze is on the glory of the Lord. And as we are beholding as through a glass, the glory of the Lord, we're looking at Jesus. What the Bible says is the Holy Spirit is changing us. He's changing you from glory to glory. He's changing you to be like Jesus. So if you keep looking at Jesus, then the Holy Spirit will keep changing you and me, transforming us to become like Jesus. So very important. The reason some people are not becoming more like Jesus is because they're not beholding. Their gaze is on something else, not on Jesus. The Holy Spirit is only transforming us to become like Jesus as we continue to behold or look at Jesus. So don't get your eyes off of him. Don't look at this or that or us. No, no, no. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Then the Holy Spirit is changing you to become like Jesus. He's helping you. So sometimes we may feel weak. Oh, how can I become like... Then you pray, Holy Spirit, please help me in this area to become more like Jesus. Holy Spirit, in this area, help me more like Jesus. Help me become more humble like Jesus. Help me become more holy like Jesus. Whatever. Holy Spirit, you help me. He's changing us to become more and more like. But our eyes must keep our eyes on Jesus. Don't take your eyes off of that. Because if you take your eyes off of Jesus, then you're not going to be changed into that image. All right? Ephesians. I'll try to finish this quickly. Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4. And verse 13. Ephesians 4 verse 13. Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a perfect man to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So what is God doing? So if you look at the full passage here, God has put up apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists in the church, and they are helping all of us as we listen to the teaching and the ministry and receive through the ministry of all the people God has put in the church. Everything is working for this one purpose. To make all of us become mature, fully grown. And what does it mean to be mature? What does it mean to be fully grown? It means we fully grow up to be like Jesus. So who is a mature believer? Mature believer is somebody who's grown up to become like Jesus. That is spiritual maturity. That's all. What is spiritual maturity? You're becoming like Jesus. You're like Him. You've grown up to the full measure of the stature of Christ. I mean, you're fully like Him. So if people see you, oh, that person is just like Jesus. Oh, he's a mature person. So what is spiritual maturity? It's becoming like Jesus. It's to be like Jesus. And then if you look at verse 15, it says, But speaking the truth in love may grow up in all things, into Him. That means in every area, in all things, every area of life, we have to grow up to become like Jesus. So that must be your goal and my goal. In every area, in all things, I want to grow up and become like Jesus. That's what Bible says here. You grow up in all things, into Him, to be like Him, to be like Jesus, everything. So that is what God is working in your life and mind. And that's what you and I must pursue. Okay. So let's pause here. We'll have a 10-minute break. We'll come back and we'll continue this right after the break. Okay. We'll see you all in 10 minutes. Thank you.