 Matthew 18 versus 1 through 5 and he said truly I tell you unless you change it become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of God. God challenges us to be full grown people so how do we differentiate these differences? Okay so Prabhakar see here we we're talking about childlike. So childlike is a believing heart it's a trusting heart but childish on the other hand that has to when we say childish usually that's negative right don't be childish that has to do with immaturity selfishness and things like that so it's you get the difference here right so childlike is to do with spiritual maturity and it's positive but childish is something that we don't want. So God challenges us to be full grown people but yes even if we are full grown adults we can have a childlike or a believing heart so it's not contradictory anyway. I hope that clarifies Prabhakar yeah sure yes okay and Beth shares maybe because we keep getting dirty yeah yeah so that is their bet we do keep getting dirty yeah okay anyway we'll come back to that answer later here Samuel childlike to be evil but spiritually mature no childlike is more positive Samuel yeah and I think I just explained it earlier yeah so childish yeah childish is to be immature okay alright so yes if we are through with that subject we're good to move on to the next one here so the next topic that we're going to deal with yeah it's about building people by the spirit okay so when we talk about kingdom building I think very briefly we touched on it earlier we are talking about building people and not necessarily building an organization or a structure of some so we will look in detail about how we can actually impact the lives of people and that is what kingdom building is all about so in second Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 3 and I'm on page 63 Paul writes clearly you are an epistle of Christ ministered by us written not with ink but by the spirit of the living God not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh that is of the heart so he is speaking to the current fields and he says that you are the epistle of Christ or the people the current people they are the letter okay they they are the work that Paul has accomplished so you know it's interesting he says that the work is not you know some some accomplishment which is far away from the people in whom he has served all these years so he says that the people are the letter ministered by us written not with ink but by the spirit so how did he build the people he built the people by the spirit of God okay and where did he work he worked on the hearts of the people so now we have to understand that kingdom building is about building people and we build them or in other words their heart over here heart is used so we're building them building their heart with what with the spirit and that is true kingdom building you know if we don't do it in this way then it's not really impacting the individual so we have to work by the spirit as the Holy Spirit leads us so we are serving the people and they are making that spiritual impact everything else that we try to do just through programs or just through events or conferences and some organizational methods that may not bring the spiritual impact which we are looking for because kingdom building is about building people impacting people it has to be done by the the enabling of the Holy Spirit and so we write on their very hearts and we must remember that and you know Paul in other passages you know he uses things like terms like you are God's field okay you are God's building first Corinthians three night and he's referring to the people so the mission field is the people okay it's not some project that he is referring to so Paul is quite clear you know who he is or what is he working on he's working on the hearts of the people by the empowering of the Holy Spirit and you know even in the passage first Corinthians 9-1 he says are you not my work in the Lord are you not so the people you're looking at the individual now it's as you consider the life of Paul the Apostle you know we can ask the question why didn't he while talking about his work and his accomplishments why didn't he point to the missionary journeys why why didn't he point to the number of churches that he had planted you know why didn't he point to the letters the epistles that he had written it so he had so many things to look at and say this is my work God this is my work but he's saying that the people they are the work that he has invested in all these years and so he's looking at you know different ones and particularly from the church he speaks like that you are my feet you are the building you know you are you not my work in the Lord so at the end of the day you know it's people when we look at people whom we have served over the years they are the work of God and this work was not done just by us we cannot do it without natural abilities but by the spirit by the power of the spirit you know God gives us an opportunity to write on the tablets of people's hearts and it makes a spiritual impact on their lives and that is true Kingdom building when we are building people up for the glory of God even the Apostle Peter he writes in first Peter 2 5 to the believers he says you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house so he also understood so we are working on the house of God the Kingdom of God the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ what are the bricks that we are using to build this house or this Kingdom people and that is why he says you are living stones so people are the building block of the Kingdom and what is the difference between you know a normal regular stone and you know a living stone the thing is living stones you know they have feelings so it's not easy if you just want to build a building it bricks put it in its place you know you cement just stick it all together it's a lot easier to work with dead stones but it's not easy to work with living stones stones have feelings living stones grow so they have a journey to make they have a progress to make and you know living stones have the capacity to move around so we they will not just stay put in the place where we suggest for them so this is all that it's not going to be easy to work with living stones to build the Kingdom of God but yet we have to understand that we are here working with people who are the components of the house of God or the Kingdom of God so Kingdom building is about building people and not just about you know I we could come up with the like a resume and you know full details about what we have accomplished in our ministry I I release so many albums I you know preach so many sermons but you know actually none of that would matter because ultimately what is the work that those sermons or those albums have done in the hearts of people but that is more important so Kingdom building is about building people okay so anyone who calls himself or herself a Kingdom builder must have people in their hearts and that is the example which we see the Apostles setting before us but they carry people in their hearts so the Paul writes 1st Corinthians 7 3 he writes I do not say this to condemn for I have said before that you are in our hearts you are in our hearts so he was carrying the people and why did he labor so abundantly he labored he he says you know the love of God it compels compels it constrains me you know I do everything for you so he had people in his heart and he valued and treasured people he wanted to see them grow in the Lord you know make that spiritual journey of maturity and that is why he wrote the episodes that he wrote he made the missionary journeys that he did and so on and so forth so for us we must carry God's people in our hearts and again Paul writes to Thessalonians he talks about the people he says you are our glory and joy so again it's not you know some work on the table one book on the table which we wrote no but it's the people the transformation that the person has experienced you are our glory you are our joy so when we look at the people and how they have matured and God makes us proud that God's word has worked in this person's life and you know this is this is the work of God that he had called us to so for a kingdom builder we must have people in our hearts now suppose we say okay I don't want to work you know it's like work from home I can sign up for work from home just don't tell me to interact with people okay and I will the kingdom of God well you know what permanently this kind of work from home situation can't happen in the case of a kingdom builder people are a part of it okay basically what my it wasn't funny I was trying to crack a joke basically I was trying to say minimize human interaction okay but that cannot human beings are a part of kingdom building cannot subtract human beings from the work that God has called us to do for the kingdom of God so we must have anyone who says okay even if it doesn't involve interaction with people definitely whatever we do let's say okay we are doing some media work some graphic work and that's going out you know for church but it's impacting a soul it's impacting somebody's life so we are making an impact even if we don't interact with human beings so everything that we do anything and everything that we do in the kingdom of God has to do with people and every kingdom builder must have people in their hearts and that's that it will build up people in some way it will draw people closer to God in some way and show them in the Lord in some way so what is the right way of building people up okay the right way is to build them up by the spirit and you know we have seen that Paul said that that you know by by the spirit he had built up the Corinthian church okay so what is the spirit now John chapter 6 verse 63 Jesus said that it is the spirit who gives life and the flesh profits nothing the words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life so you know the the content that we use it has to be from the word it has to be led by the spirit but then the spirit is able to do he's able to do his work in the hearts and the lives of the people so that's what we are saying you're saying that it must be led by God it must be you know from the word of God and that is the only thing which is able to build people up now on the contrary remember when we talked about the God given vision we also said if we are led by the flesh that cannot produce the will of God or the fruit the lasting fruit that the father is looking for and similarly here again in our labor if what we are doing is from the flesh the spirit has nothing to do with it so yeah we must be careful okay sorry everyone my internet connection dropped so yeah reconnecting I don't know where till where you all heard so I was saying that you know we can only build up by the spirit and not through our you know if we depend on carnal if you depend on our flesh or carnal methods to build up the lives of the people so in kingdom building we have to depend on the resources of God to impact people spiritually and in kingdom building we must realize that you know it's such a precious work it's sort of it's it's honorable and it causes a reverential fear in us to just think that oh man you know I have to serve in the kingdom of God and God is calling me to do something is so precious but then you know we can have questions within ourselves and and say that I'm not perfect how is it that God can ask me to serve in his kingdom you know but the beautiful thing about God's kingdom is that God uses imperfect people to perfect imperfect people okay so we're all making that journey of maturity we're all you know moving forward to become more like Jesus or everything that we learned about spiritual maturity you know that's happening in our lives but you know the beauty of it is one of us is perfect you know even even the ones ministering they're not perfect and yet you know God is able to use imperfect people to perfect imperfect people and that is what is happening in the kingdom of God and that is the process of kingdom building so now we look at some practical keys of building people by the spirit so how do we do it right the first thing is to recognize the purpose of individuals because we want to build people right kingdom building is to build people so how do we build them we have to recognize that God given potential so that can be discerned by the spirit so we recognize okay what is the purpose what is the position or the place where this individual must be you know what is that position that must be allocated to this person because then the growth will come now we know as people in the body of Christ God has set each member okay each one of them as he has pleased that's what first Corinthians 12 18 says that means everyone has a calling everyone has a position as a kingdom builder we have to discern the God appointed function of individuals and help them you know move in that direction so that will enable them to kind of you know grow from there become better in using their grace in using their gift in releasing that annoying thing you know so on and so forth so recognize the potential I think we've touched on this earlier it's not what we want them to do but it's more like what has God called them to do and then position them in that place and lead them in that direction and that will really build up an individual so is it possible to recognize one's character before they have come to full maturity yes it is we can recognize by the Holy Spirit you know Jesus did that in the case of Peter he looked at Peter at the very beginning and John chapter one you know he sees Peter and he says that you know you are Cephas you are a stone or he was prophesying and he was speaking the destiny of Peter even before he started on his ministry journey so it's possible so that's why we must be very prayerful as we interact with people and call them to certain responsibilities so recognize their calling and position them you know Nathaniel is another example where Jesus looked at this man and just by looking at that man by the Spirit he said you know here is an Israelite in whom in whom there is no guile how is it possible for Jesus to discern you know what kind of an attitude this person carries you know by the Holy Spirit so we depend on the Holy Spirit to recognize people's potential and we guide them okay and as we do that you know they they will begin to release their potential so positioning them is very very important yeah so in the case of Moses God instructed you know God instructed him when he was to complete his term you know God showed him Joshua and he told Moses that you know you must pick Joshua encourage him for he shall cause Israel to inherit it so it was Moses's responsibility to position Joshua you know to be the successor to lead God's people in the future and also the New Testament you know we see that Barnabas he went seeking Saul I'm sure God would have impressed it on Barnabas's heart that here is you know an apostle in the making or here is an apostle who is emerging you need to make that connection and you know bring him on to the scene and so Barnabas positions Saul okay he brings him to the church of Antioch he's part of the teaching team there and then you know things begin to unfold in his life so we must recognize and position people where it is best suited for them as led by the Holy Spirit now at all times it may not be easy to discern one's potential now sometimes it's easy we position some people and it works beautifully you know they take off from there but then in in some other cases it can be challenging so an example which is given in our notes is that of John Mark okay John Mark is an individual who was assisting Paul Barnabas early on in their missionary journey but you know at some point in the initial stages itself John Mark goes back home and knowing Paul's zeal and passion for the ministry Paul is very upset he's like what kind of a what kind of a minister is he you know he's wanting to take a break so he's not happy with John Mark anymore and as he continues with the journey he has an argument with Barnabas and they they become so angry with each other that you know it's a sharp dispute and they part ways so they had such a bad argument about John Mark and they went their separate ways but you know later on you know in Colossians Paul writes he says Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you with Mark the cousin of Barnabas about whom you received instructions if he comes to you welcome him so Paul had a change of heart in the beginning he made a wrong calculation maybe personality he didn't like you know laid back attitude in ministry and maybe he he thought that look at John Mark you know he's not useful he's so laid back but he recognized later on that no John Mark is useful for the work of the ministry so later he starts to affirm and commend John Mark and he includes him in the ministry so in this passage he's telling the people welcome him and to Timothy when he writes to Timothy in one Timothy 411 he says only Luke is with me get Mark and bring him with you for he is useful to me for my ministry okay so notice that there's a change of heart he could not recognize John Mark's potential earlier but later he thinks that he's useful so point is sometimes we can tell sometimes you know it takes a while for us to identify people's potential but you know keep working at it because ultimately we are here to build people up then discover and develop their gifting so you know this is this is to say again that we have to move in the direction that God has for the people so when we look at people obviously God will give us the discernment that they are gifted in this area okay there is a certain gift upon their lives even Paul when he spoke to Timothy he encouraged him right first Timothy 414 he says do not neglect the gift that is in you so there was a gift in Timothy and Paul wanted Timothy to exercise that gift fan that gift into flames so the same way every individual that we work with God according to God's purpose there is a gift so we must encourage them to nurture hone that skill you know that gift that anointing that God has put on their life now why are we saying this because as leaders we can we can err you know in the way that we can make of people we want them to become right so then what happens you know they struggle through the opportunity which we give them and then we are trying to push them maybe somebody is not not at all cut out for pulpit ministry but if we keep pushing them what will happen you know over a period of time they will get discouraged they might even burn out and they might you know be so upset that they want to leave the ministry so it's not about making people who we think they should be but it's about just you know being a catalyst and allowing them to recognize the gift that God has put on their lives and grow in that direction so that's what Paul did he told Timothy there is a gift in you Timothy and I want you to develop that gift stir up that gift don't neglect the gift and move in that direction right so we must recognize and allow people to grow then nurture life to life so basically that means that we lead by example okay and we provide instruction and support you know and we are there we are there for people look at you know Paul he he says things like imitate me life to life so he gives Timothy an example he gives the the churches that he was leading an example and he says you can be like me imitate me follow me right the way I follow Christ so we preach the greatest message through our lives and we invite people to follow okay and when we do that what happens is you know people also understand that it's first important for us to do and then teach right or basically the point is live by example lead by example and that kind of that kind of a mentoring or that kind of a nurturing leading people is very effective so that is a way in which we are also building people up then we ourselves are growing in God right we are getting God's revelation we are moving forward and as we are growing no we can lead people in the depth of that revelation or you know in the depth of that annoying thing because we have been there and it's a lot easier to lead people you know when when we have been there done that than just being like the blind leading the blind so if I myself have not grown personally in those areas it's very difficult for me to instruct and guide people so leading by example you know life to life impact nurture is very very important okay yes all right so in leading people we'll just look at some other key things that we can that will help us but I'm looking at the comment here Louis says this issue with John Mark was it a sign of burnout in ministry on the side of John Mark not necessarily Louis because you know this is the first missionary journey that Paul and Barnabas set out on and they choose John Mark for an assistant and as they're moving through different cities he just decides to kind of stay back in his hometown I think he decides to go back to his hometown so we don't exactly know why he made that choice but he did which is what upset Paul and I don't think it's burnout because it was just the beginning of the journey yeah so is that okay Louis yeah and like we don't know the temperament of John Mark right you know sometimes we may say that it's not a burnout but knowing that person's personality maybe somebody needs you know me time alone time to kind of refresh themselves they may have felt the pressure of even a little bit of ministry we don't know we don't know his personality so anyway but from what we see it was not like too much ministry had happened you know before he took a break so that is the observation okay moving on to building people so we are saying that we led by God according to what God is calling them to do lead them by example and then some other you know practical things I'll touch on avoid insecurities you know we've been saying this you know insecurities which we have within ourselves as leaders right so they push us to to kind of interact with people in unhealthy ways so what happens you know we might get over involved or we might become very authoritative dictatorial jealous of people you know trying to control manipulate you know trying to do things from the background and people are not understand so and people wonder what why is this individual behaving like this why is a leader behaving like this personal insecurities which that person has not dealt with over time so we must guard ourselves against insecurities jealousy you know we've touched on this as well earlier the classic example is Saul and David you know Saul was so jealous of David that you know it kind of builds envy builds right initially he just wants to harm him and then he wants to kill him so it's just getting bad so avoid that avoid jealousy avoid being overprotective and being controlling now it is good to be zealous for God's people Paul was zealous you know he was zealous for every church that he had planted and you know he used to say things like I have betrothed you to one husband or the church he's saying that you know like like a bride like a friend of the bride groom I am the one responsible to entrust you to Christ so you know I can't let you be deceived whatever I've taught till now you know I want you to stay in those things don't get deceived by false teachings and also he's acting very protective about the church but at the same time you know Paul also says things like not that we have dominion over your faith okay so you see uh yes we are working with people we are imparting into their lives but they are also yielding to God they are cooperating they have a walk with the Lord they are being obedient and that is why they are maturing now we cannot look at people and say you're mature because of me you know I am teaching you God's word I am nurturing you I am leading you Paul never did that he never tries to dominate over a person's faith and in fact he says not that we have dominion over your faith okay what you believe how you believe what your walk with the Lord is you are responsible I cannot take you know credit for any of that I don't have any dominion over your faith okay so there is a it's it's kind of you know there's a thin line he is zealous for the people to protect them but at the same time he's not over engaging over protective right of the people he knows where the line ends and you know how he must treat them as individuals you know of their own with the mind of their own so as leaders same thing for us we must not be try to be over protective or controlling of people and their walk with God yes yeah sure Louis yeah moving on avoid over involvement okay so this basically means that we empower and that's that's what it is you know when we speak the word when we teach we instruct we empower and then we let the people take it up and run because then what happens you know they they become stronger as they are making their own decisions they become stronger as they are growing in God but you know if we are trying to get over involved meaning handholding nurturing you know like like your kindergarten everything pastor is there for everything pastor is pastor has to say something what happens you know they become dependent on us and they're not able to do anything without the leader and that's not true kingdom building we want to have people stand on their own two feet so leadership should be such that we give them the keys right we give them the reins and we say okay guys you know you you are good enough you can make a decision now you have what it takes right you have the word you have the wisdom you have the skills you have the anointing go for it right so over involvement must be avoided and we must equip people in such a way that if we are not on the scene for whatever reason right like in the early church we see that persecution happened they got scattered but they were empowered they started planting their own churches the believers right they did not have to sort of hang on to the apostles to lead them but when they were praying miracles were happening the believers themselves so it should be like that when we're building the kingdom of God empower people avoid over engaging over involvement also being over authoritative right scriptures tell us that don't be lord over God's people we are not supposed to do that okay and you know Paul also wrote to the Corinthians first Corinthians 918 he said that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel so he knew that the authority which is given it is to build people up not to kind of you know push them around and be a boss over God's people so being overly authoritative is also not something that you know God wants from a leader and then you know avoiding emotional attachments so as we are building God's people working with you know the people that God puts into our lives you know maybe there comes a time when we have to release them right and if we are emotionally attached in an unhealthy way see we cannot we are working with human beings so to say that we completely like robotic it doesn't work like that so there is that level of human interaction okay with all the boundaries that that occurs and at the same time you know being overly emotionally engaged right that is what we are saying that we must avoid because if it comes time for you know that brother or that sister that we have been building up over the years to move forward God you know releases a prophetic word and they have to move on to higher things in the Lord we should not become a stumbling block we should not become that restraining you know kind of a grip over that person but we must be ready to let them go okay all right so I think that I will pause here because the next section is more about bringing correction and I think it'll be good for us to kind of take a little more time and touch on it instead of just rushing through it so so far whatever we have learned about building people up any thoughts any comments you know it'll be good for us to to look at that and then we can move forward in the next section yeah so so far we've just looked at the fact that we are building people we must build people by the spirit and some practical keys you know that we must understand God's heart for the people position them accordingly and then you know the way we lead them by example not authoritatively you know instead we lead them as good stewards of what God has and entrusted us with so yeah any any more comments from your side or anything from your life your experience of leading people that you want to share with the class that would be wonderful okay okay so Louis says you just cleared the thin line between witchcraft and impartation in ministry okay sure sure Louis and you will use the term witchcraft which is quite heavy but I think what you mean is manipulation right spiritual manipulation yeah it's true it's true so we want to impart and build but we don't want to be controlling see again even though this is a different chapter I think the key is character and maturity if character and maturity if the wine skin is lacking if there's no strength in the wine skin then you know whatever we said avoid this avoid that you know it's easier said than done because these are deep seated insecurities within us and they can start playing up right the moment you see somebody doing better than you if I have not dealt right if I haven't matured in the Lord in my trust in God and who I am in Christ if I'm not secure in these things I can try to play games to kind of you know bring down the other person so yeah for us to lead well I think what we talked in the previous chapter is very crucial to have the right attitudes okay seems to me like the kingdom truth is sinking in so there are no questions no comments whatsoever so I think I'll let the truth work in you for a while yeah and we will connect in the next class and take it forward so would like to request yeah yes I can hear someone okay be wise as serpents and innocent as doubts so I think what it means is to to be harmless right be harmless but at the same time be shrewd be shrewd or be a good good steward bringing about profit and bringing about expansion increase having foresight okay so we are getting things done for the kingdom but not in a harmful violent way instead in a very harmless way we're not harming anybody but we are being shrewd for the sake of the kingdom so does that make sense Prabhakar some more example please okay okay be wise as serpents and innocent as doubts see what Jesus was saying is he's saying that the people of the world right they can they can they can be evil for them to to progress it's a very selfish kind of a progress that the world wants okay where they don't care if they walk on people but they they'll get what they want so that's not how a child of God should be a child of God can be harmless can be selfless or can be loving of people but at the same time we too can make progress better than or at least if not better than at least as much as somebody out there in the world so no to put it in a simple way we can have all the right attitudes and be very profitable in the world so that's what it means okay thank you yeah sure sure thank you okay all right so with that question we will wrap up i'd just like to request somebody to close with the word of prayer yeah it's open to anyone all right our prayer yes yes please yes a father now god we want to thank you we want to give you all the glory we want to give you all the honor we want to give you all the adoration for the world that we've had this morning this afternoon this evening we thank you for your servant that that you used to speak the word of truth to us father we are praying that you will help us to god not to be leaders ago who withhold your people look up from fulfilling the purpose by which you know you have brought them into this world we pray father that you will help us to go to see deeper truth to god and meaning not go to the gospel that we may not be an obstacle to go to the growth of your kingdom father we ask so god that the word that we've heard today will god let it not just be word so god that we hear but let it be word so god that will bring meaning to our christian race that will bring meaning not go to our ministry that will bring meaning to our lives we pray for that from this day hence fought your glory be revealed to god in every life so god has presented here today thank you we shan't have days for this we pray to christ our lord jesus amen amen amen thank you so much thank you harrison yes thank you everyone for joining god bless you have a great week thank you bye bye for now thank you thank you thank you thank you bye thank you bye everyone thank you ma'am thank you thank you bye god bless thank you thank you bye okay louis i saw that comment yeah that's funny spiritual manipulation foreign ministry version which graphed african okay okay on the lighter note okay all right okay so bye for now see you soon